Brothers
by 000Marie198
Summary: A series of oneshots involving random brotherly moments between the turtles. Their love, bickering, competing, comforting, playing, annoying each other to no end, and all the stuff that only siblings do. Some of these will be pointless humor or fluff with no actual plot. Warning: Contains fluff.
1. Ultimate Showdown

**A/n: This book includes a series of oneshots involving the turtles and brotherly moments between them. I'll keep updating more whenever I come up with new ones. I can take requests too, so if you have any in m****ind, you can leave them in the review section or send me a PM. No romance though, and it must have at least two of the turtle brothers in it. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own the turtles, April, Casey, Splinter or any other character which might be used later on** **in this book. All of them belong to their respective owners.**

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**Ultimate Showdown**

The air was heavy with anticipation. April, Casey, Donnie, Mikey and Master Splinter stood to the side.

In the centre of the pit, Leo and Raph faced each other off for their little contest, both determined to win. April had been appointed as the referee since she was the only one who wouldn't pick sides.

On the other side of the living area, Mikey nudged Donnie with a mischievous smile. "So, D, how about a bet? Winner gets three large pizzas for the next movie night."

"And he also gets to choose the movie." Donnie smiled smugly.

"Fine" Mikey sighed, "Three large pizzas and the choice of the movie says, Raph would win."

"I'm betting on Leo."

"My sons, as much as I love to watch this intriguing competition, I must warn you all that there will be no victor."

"But Sensei!" Mikey whined, "It's _The_ _Ultimate_ Showdown! No one ever knows the outcome of these type of matches. It'll be fun to watch, please don't cancel it!"

"I'm not saying that I don't want to watch. On the contrary my son; I would love to. I am simply placing my own bet."

"Wait... What?"

Splinter chukled at the dumbfounded expressions on his younger sons' faces.

"Three large, extra cheese pizzas and movie choice says, neither will be victor."

After a long moment of staring at his father, Mikey finally nodded. He then skipped towards the eldest two, his bubbly, excited persona back like it had never really left.

The two brothers were seated on chairs with a small table between them (courtesy of April). At first, everyone had agreed to do this in the kitchen since a table and stools were already present there but then Mikey pointed out that the table was greasy as he hadn't cleaned it after trying another one of his recipes and it would be more fun in the pit anyway.

"You guys ready?" He asked them excitedly.

"Yup"

"Sure"

"Alright then!" Mikey turned to face the 'audience' and cleared his throat before announcing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Mutants and Humans!" Raph rolled his eyes at Mikey's dramatic speech.

"I Present to you; The Ultimate Showdown between the top two fighters of THE HAMATO CLAN!"

Beside Mikey, both Leo and Raph had interlocked their right hands, their elbows pressed to the table's surface and their muscles tense. Fiery green met focused blue, the glares competative and challenging with a hint of exasperation, due to Mikey's circus-speech, in both of them.

Mikey continued with his (completely unnecessary) announcement.

"The match that will determine who is the best! LET THE ARM WRESTLING TOURNAMENT BEGIN!"

Shaking her head in amusement, April came forward to signal the start.

"Ready?"

They both gave a nod, never breaking eye contact.

"OK. 3... 2... 1... GO!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, both brothers pushed, each trying to bring the other's arm down. Their forarms were shaking with the combined force but neither's moved.

Everyone watched in tense silence as the time passed, neither Leo nor Raph showing any signs of yielding. If Leo's arm moved a little downward, he would shift his stance slightly to counteract the force. And if Raph's arm moved downward, he would apply more strength in pushing the other's arm.

It didn't look like any of them was going down any time soon.

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April checked the time on her T-phone.

_7:42 pm_

She was leaning back against the couch as Casey, Donnie and Mikey absent-mindedly watched the ongoing arm wrestle match; nothing had changed. Splinter had gone to his room to meditate a while ago.

April took another look at the T-phone and sighed. The match had been going on for 27 minutes. And frankly, she was considering about ending it. None of the two were really backing down, they didn't even look tired. At that rate, they wouldn't move until they are passed out from exhaustion which, apparently, wouldn't happen anytime soon, considering how the two of them hadn't even broken a sweat yet. She thought for a moment and decided that she would give them another 3 mintues.

At least this way, half hour would be completed.

"Casey, can you bring Master Splinter? He wanted to be here when the match ends."

"Sure thing, Red." Casey stood up from his position next to Mikey and walked towards Sensei's room, he paused on his way there and turned to face April. "By the way, how much longer till you call an end to that? I'm starving."

"Just three more minutes."

"Great!"

After Master Splinter had arrived, only one minute was left and the eldest two were still working on trying to bring the other down. Donnie and Mikey were already informed that the match was at the end and they both were worried that they'll lose the bet.

Mikey then decided to cheer Raph on and Donnie soon followed, cheering Leo.

"Bring him down, Raph!"

"Don't let him win, Leo!"

"Raph! Put more force in those muscles!"

"C'mon, Leo! You can beat him!"

They kept encouraging their brothers, trying to get one of them to win because Sensei's choice was terrible. No one really wanted to watch soap operas on their special movie night. Heck! even a Barbie movie would be a better choice than that.

April checked the time once more and started countdown.

"10... 9... 8..."

Raph and Leo doubled their efforts, putting much more force in pushing.

"7... 6..."

Their jaws clenched, eyes narrowing.

"5... 4... 3..."

Their arms were shaking immensely now, due to the effort of trying to bring each other down. Raph growled at his brother, "You're gonna lose, Leo."

"2..."

Leo growled back, "I don't think so."

"1..."

Their knuckes had turned white.

"And Stop!"

Both dropped their arms, groaning at the slight ache in the muscles. April walked towards them and smiled at them. "Congratulations! It's a tie!"

"But I wanted to beat Leo!"

"And I wanted to beat Raph!"

Master Splinter chuckled at their whining and addressed Mikey and Donnie, who sat on the ground, pouting.

"I do not want to say I was right but... I was right!"

Leo and Raph moved to sit beside their brothers. "Looks like Sensei won the bet." Raph put an arm around Mikey's neck and pulled his baby brother towards him, ignoring the indignant squeaks and gave him a noogie, "But thanks for cheering us on."

"H-hey! Let go, Raphie! Leo, help!"

Leo and Donnie laughed at their antics before the former came to rescue Mikey from Raph's noogies. As soon as he was free, Mikey scrambled away from Raph and sat beside Donnie with arms crossed and a pout.

"Maybe it would have been more fun if there were teams."

Hearing this, Raph and Leo shared a look, an evil glint in their eyes and looked at their younger brothers with mischievous grins.

Donnie recognized that look, and felt ice shoot down his spine.

"Oh no..."

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Mikey and Donnie unceremoniously flopped down on the couch, groaning at the immense pain in their arms. They looked exhausted, as if they had just ran a marathon.

After a minute of silence, Donnie spoke:

"Mikey..."

"Hmm?"

" Always remember to _never, ever, ever_ give those two _any_ hint for teaming up ever again!"

"Trust me, dude...ughh... wouldn't dream of it."


	2. Painkiller

**Painkiller**

He was in agony, he knew he was. And yet he refused to take anything that would lessen his pain. He never liked people who took drugs to relieve the pain, whether it be physical or mental. He used no medicine, no drugs or anything of that sort, he used no painkillers; knowing their harmful side effects (and they were reserved for emergencies anyway).The only thing the residential genius did accept, however, was coffee. But unfortunately, there was no coffee left and he was so tired that caffeine would only keep him awake and make matters worse.

There was a squeak of the lab's door opening and soft, almost silent footsteps coming his way. Donnie didn't hear them through his pounding headache, neither did he register the concerned look on his elder brother's face. But he did register the hand that fell on his shoulder and his brother's words.

"Donnie, you okay? You didn't answer when Mikey called for pizza."

" 'm fine. Just... tired, I guess."

"You sure? You don't look so good."

A hand was placed on his forehead and his brother frowned, "You are developing a fever; you need to stop overworking yourself. C'mon... let's get you to bed." His brother helped him up and drapped his arm across his own shoulders to assist him to his room.

"But it's only 9 pm! I still need to-"

"Your projects can wait. You need rest."

"What about patrol?"

"I'll cancel the patrol for tonight."

"B-but - "

"Bed Donatello!"

That big brother voice, stern yet caring, put a halt to all his protests and Donnie sighed as he was lead to his room. Now that he noticed, he really was not feeling so good, everything seemed to be spinning and he staggered slightly but thankfully didn't fall as his brother supported him. Once inside his room, he was laid on the soft mattress of his bed and a blanket was drapped over him. After Donnie was tucked in, his brother begin to kneed and massage his shoulders, relaxing the tense muscles underneath.

Of course there were no drugs or medicines, he didn't need them because he realized he already had the best painkiller. He sighed as the throbbing seized and a warm feeling of comfort spread throughout his body, making him feel safe, relaxed and sleepy.

Oh yes, there was no better painkiller.


	3. Too Hot

**Turtles are 12-13 years old in this one.**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own them**

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**Too ****Hot**

Mikey shuffled towards the pit where Leo was watching a rerun of Space Heroes and Raph was reading his comic.

He staggered as he reached them and wheezed, which drew his brothers' attention immediately.

"Mikey!"

They dropped whatever they were doing and ran to check on him.

"Mikey! Are you okay?!"

"What happened to you bro?!"

He leaned against Leo as the blue-clad turtle supported him.

"The heat... is... HOT!"

"Huh?"

"The feeling, bro!" He said, shaking Leo by the shoulders. "Understand... the feeling. It cannot be described into words!"

"Mikey, you're not making any sense! And by the way, feelings actually CAN be described into words. Just... not always."

"Leo... dude, you're a writer. Writers can do that stuff, not me."

"B-but...How did you-"

"It's no big deal, Fearless, we all knew."

"No no no. You weren't supposed to... how did you find out? You couldn't have..."

As Leo was busy panicking about his brothers knowing his secret, Mikey, very dramatically, fell back on his shell.

"No... the heat...too much. I'm... evaporating. Avenge meeeeee."

Sighing, Raph grabbed Mikey and Leo by their arms, dragging them to the pool of clean water beside their living room.

They would thank him later.


	4. Bathroom Squabble

**Warning: Has a few curse words but nothing too severe.**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own them.**

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**Bathroom Squabble**

For the four Hamato brothers, sharing a single bathroom while living together was sometimes not a problem at all. But then again, there were also those other times...

"Mikey!" Donnie pounded on the bathroom's door with irritation. "Would you hurry up?!"

Raph was leaning on the wall opposite to it, his intense glare focused on the door like he could burn that thing down by simply looking at it. Which, considering the situation him and Donnie were in, sounded quite tempting.

"Just five more minutes." Came the muffled voice from inside the bathroom. Raph pushed off of the wall. "Is he freakin' kidding us right now?! He's been in there for like 15 minutes!"

A rhythmic humming, similar to the ringtone of their T-phones was heard coming from the other side of the door.

"Nope, he's definitely not kidding." Donnie quipped dryly.

One could hear Raph's low, angry growl from a mile away, so either it was a miracle that Mikey didn't hear it or maybe he was just ignoring it.

Raph's temper was flaring now (the carefree humming coming from Mikey was NOT helping), and so was Donnie's. While Leonardo, who wakes up an hour earlier than the rest of his brothers, had already used the bathroom without having to wait 20 minutes outside the door or worrying about being quick. That lucky Bastard.

"Mikey! Get. Out!"

Why couldn't they just kick the damn thing down or rip it off it's hinges?! Oh yeah... Cuz then, they wouldn't have a door to close when their turns come.

"Open this damn door right now Mikey!"

"A'm bwuchhing ma tweeth." Came the reply.

"Michelangelo," Donnie said calmly, "If you don't come out in 30 seconds, I'll confiscate all your comic books and hide them where even the insects can't find them."

This was no idle threat, Donnie's threats are never idle and they all knew that. But there was no acknowledgement from Mikey, which pissed the two enraged turtles off even more.

"Why I oughta-"

_Click_

Raph was cut off by the door being unlocked and finally, FINALLY swinging open.

As soon as Mikey crossed the threshold, a green blur swepped past him and the door slammed shut behind him. He looked at Donnie who had his arms crossed and a glare pinned on Mikey.

Where-ever the youngest moved, the death glare followed, like a hunter watching it's prey.

_He's getting creepy. Maybe I should break the ice a little._

"Sooo... what do you want for breakfast?"

Donnie didn't answer immediately, making the younger of the two think that he was too angry to talk. But after a moment's silence, Donnie spoke, his voice dead serious.

"Turtle Soup."

"Oh... uhhh... that's good, that's good... hehehe. You know... so... um... something came up and I have to like... go? Yeah go! Like, right know and... uh... BYE!"

_Mission 2 : Run away fro__m Donnie while he waits for Raph to come out. Find Leo, give him the cutest puppy eyes one could manage and ask him for protection. Hide...and pray Donnie and Raph won't find and kill me._

He was halfway to the dojo where Leo was meditating when a very loud and very, very angry voice rang throughout the whole lair, freezing him in his tracks.

"MIKEY!!! YOU USED UP ALL OF THE HOT WATER!"

_Shit!_


	5. Where is he?

**This oneshot is kind of a follow-up for "Bathroom Squabble". Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own the turtles.**

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**Where is he?**

The atmosphere of the dojo was peaceful... serene. Sunlight was shining from the grate above and fell on the cherry tree. The light filtered through it's leaves, giving it a calm glow. Under the tree, a blue-masked turtle sat in a sieza, his eyes were closed and his posture was straight and relaxed.

He breathed in, reveling in the beautiful moment having-

"MIKEY!!! YOU USED UP ALL OF THE HOT WATER!"

Leonardo sighed, his concentration broken by the totally uncalled for, loud yell.

The blinder of the dojo slowly slid open, Mikey's head popping in as he looked around. His eyes met Leo's and he shuffled inside, quickly sliding the blinder shut. Leo knew why Mikey was here and why he looked so scared but he remained silent, letting his little brother tell him what he wanted to say.

"L-Leo?" Mikey's voice was hesitant and small, while his eyes were big and wide, glistening with unshed tears and looked so scared, so vulnerable. It instantly activated the big brother instinct in Leo which told him to hug his baby brother and chase away all his fears.

"Yes Mikey?" Leo gestured for his little brother to sit beside him, which Mikey did.

"C-Can I stay with you? I need to hide from Raphie and Donnie."

"They're mad at you?"

"Yeah... I...", his eyes kept darting around as he said this, like he was afraid that the two turtles will jump out of nowhere to ambush him. "I took too much time to come out of the bathroom and Raph was so mad at me and Donnie was glaring daggers at me and he wants to make turtle soup out of me. Please, you've gotta save me Leo!"

As soon as Mikey finished his fast-paced talking, two sets of footsteps were heard, stomping towards the dojo. Mikey whimpered and pulled Leonardo's arm, clinging to it.

"Mikey, listen." He whispered so the others coming over here won't hear him, "Hide behind the panel next to that rafter in the corner and don't make a sound. Go! hurry."

Mikey quickly obeyed, being as stealthy as possible and making sure not to make the slightest of sound.

As soon as the youngest was hidden, Leo sat back in the same position he was in before Mikey came and closed his eyes, pretending to meditate.

The blinders slid open again. Raph and Donnie came in and looked around, searching for their target.

Raphael noticed his brother sitting under the tree, meditating and decided to ask him. Afterall, Leo was the one person who couldn't lie to save his own life. If he knew where Mikey was, he won't be able to lie about it. It was like the blue-masked turtle had the curse of Pinocchio but instead of the nose growing longer, he got super nervous and couldn't speak without stuttering which gave away that he was either hiding something or trying to lie.

_Emphasis on 'trying'._

"Hey Leo!"

His eyes snapped open and he glared at Raph for 'interepting his meditation'.

"What?"

"Did Mikey come running in here?"

Donnie saw what Raph was doing and joined him, he liked Raph's idea.

"No. Mikey didn't come running in here."

_Which is true. Because technically, he came shuffling in here._

Leo thought and internally smiled at discovering the new tactic for hiding something. If you can't tell a lie, don't tell the whole truth.

It was like Donnie had read his mind because he narrowed his eyes and asked a different question.

"Mikey didn't come running in here. Okay. But did you see him come here?"

"Uh... n-no."

_Gotcha_.

"He's here, isn't he?" Raph smirked.

"N-No?"

"You do realize you can't lie to us, right Leonardo?" Donnie said in a smug voice.

"Now tell us, where is Michelangelo hiding?"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"Because Mikey came here to hide from us and probably asked you to protect him."

"Why are you assuming that he is hiding here? He could be anywhere in the lair!"

Donatello huffed. Clearly they had forgotten how stubborn Leo is.

"Fine, Fearless! If you don' wanna spill the beans, we'll find him by ourselves. We already know he is somewhere in the dojo."

"I'll search for Mikey. Raph, guard the entrance so Mikey wouldn't leave and keep an eye on Leo."

The red-masked turtle stood infront of the door and watched Leo as the formentioned turtle glared at him. Donnie started searching for their little brother, checking every hiding spot he knew of. He even checked the tree, in case Mikey was hiding among the branches.

After looking around for a long time and not being able to find Mikey, Donnie stopped his search (albeit hesitantly).

"I think he might have sneaked out and we didn't notice."

"No, he did not. I was guarding the entrance, remember? He couldn't have sneaked out even if he wanted to."

"Hmm... maybe you could find him if you look too. I might have missed him."

Leo sighed and stood up, rolling his shoulders a bit,

"You know what? You guys keep searching if you still think he's here. I'll go make some breakfast."

"NO!"

Leo raised a brow at his brothers' panicked faces.

"Is something wrong?"

They shared a look and walked towards him, the search for Michelangelo now forgotten. It wasn't worth a destroyed kitchen.

"Nothing is wrong Leo, just... you don't have to go make breakfast. We'll make it for you, okay?"

"Donnie's right bro. We did disturb you and ruined your meditation session."

Raph grabbed his shoulders and pushed them down so that Leo was sitting again.

"Just stay here, relax and enjoy your meditation. I'll leave a cup of tea with some breakfast on the counter for you."

He patted Leo's shoulder and left the dojo with Donnie.

Leo listened to the conversation his brothers were having outside the dojo.

"Thank Goodess he bought it."

"Yeah! Otherwise he would have burned the whole kitchen to the ground!"

"We can get Mikey some other time. Right now, let's cook something for breakfast. Mikey probably won't come out today and I'm starving."

"Hey Donnie, should we make half-fried or..."

As their voices faded due to moving away, a sly grin spread across Leonardo's face. His brothers had no idea that they were fooled by the blue-masked ninja.

Soon enough, the clang of frying pan and whir of coffee-maker, the signature sounds of making breakfast, were heard.

"They're gone Mikey, you can come out now."

The youngest jumped down from his hiding spot and bounced in place.

"That was so awesome! But how did you fool them? Lying isn't really your strong point. Did you use a strategy you saw in Space Heroes? Or is it from that huge book you got from Sensei?"

Leo chuckled at his enthusiasm, nobody could keep a straight face when it came to Mikey. His smile was contagious.

"Well, let's just say that I might suck at lying and deception but I'm still a master of stealth. Aaand Misdirection is an important part of it."

Mikey beamed and pounced on his big brother, hugging him hard and tackling him to the ground.

"Thanks for saving me bro... You're my Hero."

Leo smiled and his arms slid around Mikey's form, hugging him back. He slowly sat up, pulling Mikey into his lap while still hugging him.

"Anytime little brother." He mumbled, kissing the youngest's forehead.

"Anytime."

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**A/n: Hope you enjoyed. Leave your thoughts in the reviews, I love hearing from you guys.**


	6. Block

**Block**

Donnie tapped his pencil against the clear white paper sheet, thinking hard. He needed a new idea for his invention but everything he came up with had already been made.

Why was this so hard?! He was the most intelligent and knowledgeable among all of his brothers and his brain decided it was the perfect moment to stop forming lightbulbs.

He absent-mindedly traced random patterns on the paper infront of him, frustrated with his sudden lack of creativity. The genius had been brainstorming with new inventive ideas a week ago but now? Now he completely drew a blank.

He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

_Stupid, unresponsive brain._

"Whatcha doin' Dee?"

Mikey's face suddenly appeared out of nowhere, only inches away from his own. Donnie yelped in surprise and shot back, only to fall off of his chair with a resounding thud, his pencil clattering to the lab's floor.

"...owww"

"Woah! You okay there? Didn't mean to startle you!"

Mikey kneeled next to the genius and helped him sit up.

"Mikey," Donnie said, rubbing his head, "How many times have I told you to stay out of my lab?!"

"Five?"

"Seventeen times this week."

"How many times did I listen to you?"

Donnie opened his mouth to retort, registered Mikey's words, froze, and closed it again, grumbling to himself.

Mikey snickered at the obvious frustration Donnie was in before he turned serious.

"Why the grumpy face though?"

A sigh, "Well... I can't really think of anything new to invent. It feels like the creative part of my brain had shut down. I just... don't know what's wrong with me!".

Mikey nodded in understanding and held out a hand to help him off the floor.

"Mmmhmmm, I know what's bothering you. You have an inventor's block."

He took the offered hand and was pulled up to stand beside the table where his papers lay, waiting to be used.

"The what block?"

"Inventor's block, bro! It's like how Raph sometimes gets an artist's block, Leo has writer's block and I very rarely have a prankster's block. Get it?"

"Yeah, and now I want to know how to get rid of it."

"You will, trust me. It just doesn't go away when you want it to."

"Then when does it go away?"

Michelangelo shrugged. "Not sure. It's different in everyones case but there are a few ways to get rid of it."

"Tell me."

Mikey was surprised how Donnie kept asking him questions without telling him to leave or getting annoyed how somebody other then him knew the answers which he did not.

_Man, he really must have been agitated about not getting any new ideas._

Mikey shook off those thoughts and focused on helping his immediately elder brother overcome his block.

"One of the ways by which you get can get rid of it is clearing your mind of anything related to what you were working on. It takes a while to go away but eventually does and you start getting ideas again."

Donnie frowned, thinking over his brother's words.

"And the other way?"

"Another way is inspiration. You get inspired by something which gives you a few ideas and the block is gone."

"Are there any more methods for coming out of such a block?"

Michelangelo shrugged. "Maybe... but I only know about these two. Hey, how about we go to the pit and talk there? Who knows? Maybe you'll find an inspiration."

Once they walked to the living room and sat at the huge sofa-turned steps of the pit, they immediately noticed the Space Heroes show airing on the TV and Leo lying on his plastron, close to the screen, with his hands under his chin and a huge dorky smile on his face.

A scene came up showing the crew using small tazer guns to defeat mean-looking, bulky little aliens.

"I wish I had something like those tazer guns they used to defeat the Achinkas from planet Boloria! They are so cool!"

Leo's fan-boying about the mentioned weapons struck something in Donnie.

A sudden idea formed in his head; the tazer gun with blue designs on it and having functions for contolling the voltage, a compartment for flash-bullets and tiny, hidden antennas which release EMP waves able to turn off every technological device within a mile's radius.

He grinned, realizing that his inventor's block was now gone due to that tiny inspiration. His mind was filling with new ideas about additions for the little tazer gun he would make for Leo.

Mikey was right, not thinking about anything and getting inspiration really did make the block go away, way sooner than he had anticipated.

Donnie stood up, gave his younger brother a grateful smile and skipped towards his lab.

He would start working on the gun right away.

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**A/n : Funny coincidence here, I was actually having a writer's block when I wrote this. It's why it took me longer than usual.**

**P.S. The alien and planet names used here are totally made up. They don't mean anything, just random words I formed for the names.**

**Hope you enjoyed! And leave a review, I love hearing your thou****ghts on the story.**


	7. Pillow

**A/n: This one was written a long time ago, before I even made the account on this site. I never meant to publish it but since I haven't updated any oneshot for many days, I decided to do a little tweaking with this one and publish it here.**

**The turtles are about 5 years old in this one.**

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**Pillow**

It was late morning and the boys had just finished with their weapons-training a few minutes ago. Their sensei had ended the practice earlier than usual since all four of them looked tired. Mikey especially, kept yawning during the whole session and even nodded off once while watching Donnie and Leo spar.

As soon as they were dismissed, Donnie and Raph went to their rooms to take a nap while Mikey disappeared into the kitchen for some snacks.

Leo, not wanting to sleep even though he was tired, decided to do something else to distract him from the images of his soft, comfortable mattress which kept popping in his head.

He was reading one of his comic-books when Mikey came out of the kitchen and plopped down next to him, leaning his head on Leo's shoulder. The blue-masked turtle looked at his little brother with confusion written over his face.

"Mikey? What are you-"

"Shhh! I'm sleepy and I need a pillow."

"Mikey, you already have a pillow in your room."

"I know, but it isn't warm and comfy like you."

The freckled tot snuggled closer to him and started to doze off within a few minutes. A content smile formed on the eldest brother's face as he eased Mikey in a more comfortable position in his lap and pulled him closer.

"Sweet dreams, little brother. Sleep well."

"...night Ani..."

Mikey mumbled sleepily and cuddled even closer to Leo, the eldest's amused chuckles following him to dreamland.


	8. Cast

**A/n:**

**Phew! Finally written after taking so long (blame it on the writer's block). Here's the next oneshot, y'all. Enjoy****!**

**The boys are 6-7 years old in this one.**

**Warning: Contains injury and a tiny bit of angst.**

**Disclaimer**

**I**** sadly do not own these adorable tots.**

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**Cast**

Leo held his baby brother close, shushing and comforting him as the freckled turtle hiccuped and sniffed. Mikey had begun crying after they finally brought Raphael home and had been bawling ever since.

Leo too, was worried sick about his immediately younger brother.

The four of them had went out in the sewer tunnels and didn't notice that they have unknowingly ventured into the old catacombs which held unstable, rusted pipes on the roof. They didn't realize that playing _Echo_ could shake the whole place and huge pipes could start falling, or that one of those pipes would happen to fall on Raphael's arm.

As soon as they heaved the heavy, rusted metal pipe off of their brother, Donnatello accessed his condition. Raph had a few bruises and scrapes, and his arm was fractured... badly. He looked pale and had started shaking, his eyes filled with pain which he tried to hide.

They immediately set to work on bringing their hurt brother home and called for their father as soon as they arrived. After that, Raph had been taken to the lab to get treated by Donnie and Sensei, while Mikey had started crying, upset about his brother's condition.

Leonardo's eyes drifted towards the closed doors of Donnie's lab once more.

They had been in there for nearly an hour now.

He hoped with all his heart that his little brother would be alright.

He turned back to Mikey when he felt him shifting to rub his puffy, reddened eyes. Leo gently stroked his younger brother's head.

"He is gonna be just fine, Mikey."

Mikey numbly nodded, not really having the energy to talk at the moment.

The sound of the lab's door opening drew both of their attention and they watched with anticipation as a weary looking Donnie and Master Splinter trudged out, Raph trailing behind them with a downcast expression. He had his bruises treated and his left forearm was secured in a thick white cast.

"Stay here, my sons. I will go find some medicinal herbs for Raphael that could help with his pain."

Saying that, Splinter headed to his room in order to search for said herbs

Mikey and Leo shared a look before running to join Raph who now sat at the steps of the pit alongwith Donnie.

"Raphie... are you okay?" Mikey got no response to his question but he didn't deter in the slightest, "Is your arm hurting? Are you feeling bad about it? Is the cast bothering you? Or you don't like Sensei's herbs because they taste-"

"SHUT UP!"

The three stepped back at Raph's sudden outburst.

"OKAY?! Just shut up! I'm fine! I don' need your pity and I don' wanna talk to any of you right now!... Just leave me alone!"

Breathing heavily and having one fist clenched, he stood up and marched towards his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

For a long moment nobody spoke or moved, their gazes fixed on the hallway leading to their rooms. It was Mikey who finally broke the silence.

"What are we gonna do?"

"I think we should leave him alone for now." Donnie muttered, "He is pretty upset at the moment and reaching out to him now will only make him angrier."

"But I don't want him to stay sad! I want to cheer him up!"

"We all do Mikey, and we will." Leo said, putting a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "But Donnie is right, Raph needs to be alone right now."

Mikey whimpered a little, not liking his strong brother being so upset.

%%%%%

"They look at me with pity and I feel like I'm so week and useless!"

The young turtle paced back and forth as Spike watched from a nighstand beside the bed, eating from a lettuce leaf Raph had given him.

"Stupid injured arm! I can't do anything because of it! I can't use my punching bag, I can't lift anything heavy and I can't even train!" He kicked a toy car lying on the floor, sending it flying to the other side of the room, towards his drum sets.

His eyes fell on his left arm and glared at the pristine cast. "I hate this cast! I hate that I have to wear this stupid thing! It's tight and itchy and annoying and makes me feel like a sick patient but my brothers just don't get it!"

He stopped his pacing and headed towards where his pet turtle was.

Raph sat down heavily on his bed, bouncing it a little.

"But you understand me, don't you Spike? Chew on your leaf if you understand me."

Said turtle took a bite from the lettuce he was eating and chewed, making Raph smile.

As he patted Spike's head with his finger, the door of his room opened and his father stepped in, carrying a tray with a steaming cup of tea on it.

"How are you feeling, my son?"

Raph considered the question; now that he had vented out his feelings to Spike, he felt a little better, a little less grumpy but not quite happy either. Plus, his arm wouldn't stop aching with a pulsating pain.

"Better, I guess? Arm is still hurting a lot."

Splinter hummed in acknowledgement and sat beside the green-eyed tot, handing him the cup.

"Perhaps a little tea would help."

Raphael hated tea, especially the herbal one which Sensei made for them when they were either sick or injured. It tasted horrible but he accepted the cup nonetheless, not wanting to upset his father too.

"Raphael, why did you yell at your brothers?"

Raph stiffened, despite his father's voice being calm and soft without any hint of anger.

"S-Sensei I-I..."

"Yes?"

"I just..." He sighed, "I don' want their pity, Sensei. They think I'm weak because my arm is fractured."

"They do not pity you, my son. They are, in fact, concerned for you."

"Really?"

"Hai. Understand that they care about you very much."

Raph's face scrunched up in a thoughtful expression, considering those words when only after a moment, his father spoke again, more sternly this time.

"Now Drink."

The tot looked down at the cup in his hands with horror, like he was staring at a giant cockroach and not some herbal tea his father had brought.

"Do I have to?"

He gave the best sad/scared puppy eyes he could manage but only recieved a stern look, making him wince and turn back to the horrendous task at hand.

He slowly brought the cup to his lips and very, very reluctantly took a tiny sip.

Almost instantly, his face morphed from displeasure to confusion and he squinted at the tea like he was searching for something in it, before he took another sip, checking to confirm if what he tasted wasn't just his imagination.

Again, the tea tasted different than he had expected and he smiled.

"That actually tastes pretty good! Why does it taste so good?!"

The ninja master chuckled at his hotheaded son's enthusiasm.

"Michelangelo convinced me to put honey in it. He didn't want you to drink 'funny tasting tea' as he prefered to call it."

He refrained from telling Raphael that all three of his brothers had given suggestions to add something in his tea, some so that their brother would like it and some even questionable; they were definitely up to something.

Raph finished his tea and handed the empty cup to his father. Splinter took the cup and stood up to leave but before he stepped out though, a hesitant voice stopped him.

"Uh... dad?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Can you... um... tell Mikey that I'm sorry, for me?"

The ninja master smiled, "Of course, Raphael. Rest now, you've had a long day."

" 'kay."

The second eldest lied down on his bed, being careful of his casted arm as his father switched off the lights and closed the door. There was a soft light coming from under his door and he watched as his father's shadow walked away.

Raph yawned and closed his eyes, succumbing to the pull of sleep that he had suddenly started to feel.

%%%%%

Sometime around midnight, when the lair was dark and only a few lights were left on, the door of Raphael's bedroom slowly swang open with a low-pitched squeak. The hothead was snoring loudly, seemingly unaware of everything going on around him.

From the slightly opened door, three dark shadows baring deadly white eyes snuck in.

"Donnie, turn on the lights."

"But what if he wakes up?"

"Trust me, he won't."

"Why are we whispering?"

"I don't know, Mikey. Why are _you_ whispering?"

"The lights, Donnie."

"But Leo-"

"Hehehe... you guys are whisper-arguing~"

"-Raph might wake up if it's too bright."

An exasperated sigh.

"Fine... I'll do it by myself."

"Don't!"

"It's okay, D. Leo asked Sensei to put Sleepy-leaves in Raphie's tea, remember?"

"Sleepy-leaves?"

"Well, they are leaves and they make turtles sleepy so-"

"We get it."

There was a click and the lights were finally turned on, brightening the room. The three young turtles had their arms laiden with paints, markers, brushes of different sizes, 2 pallete trays and even some snacks which they rarely got besides Algae and worms. Donnie also held a green plastic cup, half-filled with water. They walked towards their sleeping brother and deposited the art supplies on the ground, the nightstand and even on the mattress. The passed out turtle didn't even stir through all the commotion.

"See?" Leo said smugly, "Told you he won't wake up."

When his eyes fell on Raph's cast, however, his smile vanished, replaced by a sad frown and eyes containing a huge amount of guilt. Mikey and Donnie noticed the change in their eldest brother and shared a worried look.

Donnie put a hand on his shoulder, "Leo?"

"It's my fault..."

"No, it's not."

"It should have been me who got hurt, not Raph...Not my best friend."

Grabbing his other shoulder, the genius turned Leo so he was facing them.

"Leonardo, listen to me! This wasn't your fault! Understand?"

"Yes, it is! If I had noticed where we were going sooner or stopped us from playing that game, then this wouldn't have happened! Raph wouldn't be lying here with a broken arm."

Tears collected in the eldest's eyes and he furiously wiped them away before the others could notice. He was their big brother, he wouldn't cry in front of them.

"Sensei gave me the responsibility to look out for you guys and I-...I failed. I didn't keep my brothers safe. I-I... "

...

_The whole roof was shaking like there was an Earthquake over their heads. Old and rusty metal pipes, weakened by decades of absorbing moisture, groaned and fell, sending huge vibrations across the cement floor at their impact._

_"__GUYS, MOVE!"_

_They ran towards the small entrance from where they had come inside when another groan sounded behind them. The sound of another pipe coming down was heard and they ran faster, not realizing that Raphael was a little ways behind the others. Seeing only two of his younger brothers beside him, Leo twisted around to look for Raph, a second too late._

_THUD!__"_

_AAAAAAAAHH!"_

_"RAPH!"_

...

A hand on his arm snapped Leonardo out of his flashback and he looked at Mikey who was staring at him with big, baby blue eyes.

"Leo... About what happened to Raph? It wasn't your fault, okay? And you did keep us safe. If you hadn't ordered us to move, we all would have been injured... or worse. You saved us, Bro."

"He's right, Leo. We were practically frozen with fear back there. And you didn't even know we were in the catacombs, so you couldn't have known playing 'Echo' would be dangerous."

"Yeah! We were all too busy having fun, none of us noticed. So hear this, nothing that happened was your fault." Mikey declared, pressing Leo's cheeks with his palms.

"M'key, yor squishhing ma face."

The freckled tot giggled at Leo's attempt to talk with squished cheeks.

"I will release you from this prison if you promise to stop with the guilt trip. Okay?"

The blue-masked turtle's head moved up and down with an enthusiastic nod. But who's to know whether it was Mikey moving his brother's head or Leo nodding by himself?

"Good! Now repeat after me: I promise I will not go on a guilt trip till Raph is healed."

"I p'omichh I will not go on a gilt t'ip till 'aph iz healed."

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Mikey said, finally releasing his big bro's face.

"You guys are insufferable."

Donnie grinned, throwing an over the eldest's shoulders.

"That's us!"

Leo just sighed, shaking his head with amusement and gave them a small smile.

"Thanks guys."

"No problemo, bro!"

"Yeah! It's what brothers do. And now that you aren't gonna be drowning in guilt any time soon, how about we get back on deciding what we should make on the cast?" Donnie pointed at the scattered markers and paints, drawing their attention back to the task at hand.

"Speaking of which," Mikey started, giving his brothers a confused look, "why are we using the acrylic? Wouldn't water paints be better for making lots of colors and shades and blends and cool effects and- mmmph!"

"First off, you were rambling. And when you start rambling, you don't show a sign of stopping." Donnie said dryly, not taking his hand off Mikey's mouth who was giving the genius a dangerous glare; Donatello ignored it.

"And second, water paint will easily be removed by water or any other dissolving agent so whatever we might have drawn will be ruined if Raph's cast gets wet. With acrylic paints, once they dry, they are not ruined by water and most of the liquids. You can even clean something that fell on them with water and they will be- mmmph!"

"You know, Donnie," The blue-masked turtle grinned, his hand on Donatello's mouth. "Mikey isn't the only one who rambles non-stop."

The eldest recieved a dangerous glare in response, similar to the one Mikey had given Donnie only moments ago.

"I believe we were going to decide what to draw?"

Leo said, taking his hand off of his brother's mouth.

"Yeah... umm..."

A sound of clearing the throat was heard and their gazes snapped towards Mikey who had his arms crossed and was glaring pointedly at the genious, Donnie's hand still on his mouth.

"Oh right! Sorry Mike! I totally forgot about that."

Donnie gave a sheepish smile and dropped his hand, practically removing the seal of peaceful silence.

"Yeesh! Finally! And I thought you were never gonna let me speak! Anyway, what I was _trying_ to say-" Another pointed glare toward the genius, "-is that I got an idea about the painting."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that instead of making boring cast drawings, we should paint only one thing that covers the whole cast. Like... you know, make it look like something else!"

His brothers shared an impressed look before both grinned at him.

"This is brilliant, Mikey! What should we draw?"

Mikey gave a nervous chuckle, "I... kinda haven't thought that far ahead."

"Oh..." Donnie looked slightly disappointed but he perked up again, "No worries though, one of us will come up with something... hopefully."

As the three of them began thinking about what to paint, Leo's eyes lit up, a lightbulb suddenly forming in his head.

"Hey, how about we draw Ember?"

"Ember? Oh! You mean _that_ Ember! I totally agree with this idea, Leo. Raph would definitely like it, that's for sure."

"I know, right?! What do you think, Mikey?"

"I think it's a Booyakasha awesome idea!"

Leo nodded and handed each of his brothers a marker, taking one himself.

"Ember it is, then."

They carefully positioned Raph's cast and started working on the base sketch. After a couple of minutes, Raph kicked his blanket off in his sleep and it fell on the floor. Donnie put his marker down before moving to pick the blanket and drapping it over his sleeping brother. Then he returned to his previous position to continue with the sketching.

After another few minutes of working in silence, Mikey spoke up, tapping one end of the marker with his cheek.

"Uh... bros? I forgot how it looked like from this side."

"Me too. Wait here, I'll try to get the book from Sensei's room."

"Thanks Leo! And be careful not to wake Sensei."

"That's impossible to achieve, Mikey. Even for the master of stealth here."

A muffled voice floated down from the hallway of their rooms:

"I heard that."

"Wait! He's already gone?! But he was just here a second ago!"

The purple-masked genius rolled his eyes with a sigh.

%%%%%

There was a small scuffle and Mikey's head snapped up at the noise.

"Oh C'mon! Just how many times has he kicked that blanket off?"

"6 times in this hour, 19 times in the last hour and 2 times after we came, so that makes 27 times in total."

Both eldest and youngest stared at their gap-toothed brother with wide eyes.

"You were counting? But you didn't even look around you all those times it fell."

Donnie shrugged, not taking his eyes off the part he was painting. They had finished on one side and were working on the other, the casted arm lying beside Raph's head now with it's lower side facing up.

Instead of answering his brother's question, he reminded him of something else.

"It's your turn to put the blanket back on him, Mikey."

"Why can't you do it?!"

"Busy."

"Why can't Leo do it?!" He pointed at said turtle who was currently sketching extra details on the cast to be painted on later.

"Sorry Mike, also busy. And I did it the last time."

"But I am busy too!"

Leo took his eyes off from what he was doing and gave the youngest a deadpanned look.

"You've been playing with Raph's toy car for the past 20 minutes."

Mikey opened his mouth to retort but before he could get a sound past his lips, Raph shifted in his sleep, mumbling incoherent words and turning his head from side to side.

The still awake turtles froze and watched the fourth with panick-ridden eyes, thinking they might have somehow woken him up.

The red-masked turtle began fidgeting which broke his brothers out of their stupor. They quickly moved to hold him down so he wouldn't, accidentally, aggravate his fractured arm.

Mikey swallowed and looked at his other two brothers. Donnie answered his unspoken question, "He's having a nightmare."

"We need to calm him down somehow."

"How, exactly?"

Remembering what Sensei used to do when one of them had a nightmare, Mikey grinned.

"I know what we should do!"

A simultaneous 'Shhhhh!' was addressed his way.

"Oh, sorry" He lowered his voice to a whisper, "I know what we should do."

The elder two shared a skeptical look and Mikey quickly reassured them. "Trust me, it'll work. I promise."

"Alright." Leo nodded hesitantly, "Just... don't do anything crazy."

"Psss, when have I ever done anything crazy?" A pause, "Don't answer that."

Raph's movements became more erractic and restless making his brothers increase their efforts to keep him still.

"Mikey-ouch!" Their brother had just punched Leo's shoulder in his struggles. "Anytime now!"

"I'm on it!"

Mikey quickly moved towards Raphael's right and stood beside him, stroking his head and murmuring comforting words to him. As the hothead calmed down a little, Mikey switched to stroking his arm instead and began humming a Japanese lullaby Master Splinter used to sing to him when he was younger and had nightmares. Infact, their father sang that lullaby to all of them when either had a nightmare or if they couldn't sleep.

Donnie and Leo watched in wonder as Raphael calmed down even more, his frantic movements lessening and the scared look vanishing from his face. Finally, after a few minutes, their brother had settled down again, sleeping peacefully without having anymore nightmares. They slowly relinquished their hold on him and allowed themselves to relax, having no reason to be stiff and on alert.

Still stroking Raph's arm, Mikey grabbed the blanket from the ground and gently covered his brother with it. There was a moment of peaceful silence as he made sure the hothead was comfortable, and then;

"So you put the blanket on him, afterall."

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Donnie making Leo snicker in the background.

%%%%%

Their masterpiece was almost complete. The lower layers of paint had dried and now, only a few finishing touches were being given; the shadings, a few blends and effects, a couple of tiny strokes here and there.

Finally finishing with his part, Leonardo sighed in relief and deposited his paintbrush in the plastic cup containing brownish, muddy-looking water. As he placed his pallete beside the cup on the nightstand and stood up, his gaze drifted towards his left and the corners of his mouth quirked up in a smile.

"Looks like Donnie is down."

The mentioned tot was lying on his plastron, sprayled out over Raphael's legs, fast asleep.

"Yeah? Well, I'm about to go down myself... and soon."

Mikey yawned after saying that and rubbed his eyes with a small green fist.

"Just finish with those last few shades Mikey, and then you can sleep. Don't worry about the mess, Okay? I'll clean it up."

" ...thanks leo... "

The orange-masked turtle mumbled in a tired voice and after blinking a couple of times, moved the brush to give a few extra touches to the painting and get done with his part.

As Michelangelo worked, Leo collected the scattered markers and the small bottles of acrylic paints along with the pallete he had just used. Juggling the objects in his arms so they wouldn't fall, he pushed the door open with his foot and left the room.

Mikey made one last stroke, completing the masterpiece and placed the palette he was holding on the nightstand.

Without really looking, he moved his brush over the same cup where Leo's rested and let it drop. It's bristles hit the edge of the green plastic and it toppled to the outside of the cup, splattering droplets of orange paint on the wooden surface. Mikey paid no heed to it as he was already nodding off. He lied down right where he was sitting, falling asleep before his head even hit a solid surface.

After a few minutes, Leo came back to the sight of all three of his brothers passed out and the painting now complete. He took note of an extra pallete and another panitbrush on Raphael's nightstand.

As he was passing by Donnie to pick up those items, Leo noticed his purple-masked brother shivering in his sleep and recalled that Donnie feels more cold then the others. While the three of them didn't have much need of using a blanket on moderately warm nights, the second-youngest still got the chills in his sleep.

Grabbing the blanket bunched up on the floor (courtesy of Raphael), he covered Donnie's lean form with it, tucking him in. His younger brother stopped shivering and settled down, turning his head to the other side while whistling through his tooth-gap.

Leonardo smiled and stroked Donnie's head a couple of times. Then he walked over to the nightstand to pick up Mikey's pallete and the cup of brown, tainted water. Grabbing the paintbrush along with these items, he once again left the room.

The blue-masked turtle returned shortly afterwards, holding a clean, damp rag. Moving to Mikey's side, he placed it on the nightstand and gently eased his youngest brother in a more comfortable position against Raph. Once that was done, he picked up the rag and used it to clean the small splatters and tiny strokes of paint from Mikey's fingers and face.

His movements were gentle as he cleaned the paint off the sea green skin and freckled cheeks, being careful not to rub too hard.

Once the paint was removed, Leo placed the rag he was holding on the nightsand and lovingly stroked Mikey's head like he had done with Donnie. He stood, watching all three of his little brothers sleeping peacefully.

Leo fondly gazed at them for a few moments, with a protectiveness only an eldest sibling could muster. His little brothers were the most important thing in his life to him, and if he could help it, he would never let them get hurt like that ever again. Whatever might be thrown their way would have to go through him first.

A steely resolve formed in the eldest's eyes; he would give his life for them if needed.

With that thought in mind, Leo moved to the other side of Raph's bed and laid down beside him, curling an arm around the hothead. Lulled by the sounds of his brothers' soft breathing and Donnie's light whistling, he soon drifted off to sleep.

%%%%%

The next morning, Raph slowly blinked his eyes open and looked around, his senses still groggy after such a heavy sleep. He vagually remembered Mikey's voice humming a lullaby but that thought left his mind as he saw what lay before him.

His three brothers were all cuddled up against him; Donnie was sprayled out over his legs and had his blanket covering him while Mikey was on his left side, slightly below the casted arm and had his head rested on Raph's plastron. Leo was on his right, snuggling close with an arm curled around him.

He let a small smile form at the scene when something red and orange caught his eye in the peripheral. Looking to the left, his gaze fell on his cast which looked nothing like the white cast he had on the previous night.

It was painted into a fierce red dragon shooting flames through it's mouth. The dragon was so detailed, having brick red, crimson, scarlet and, at places, maroon scales; all those having intricate shapes. The fire was drawn using 7 different shades of yellow, orange and red. There were shadings on the dragon, showing small shadows on one side of each scale and light of the flames reflecting from the other side of most scales. It had flashing, golden eyes with dark pupils in a slit, and with so much shades and small details; it looked real.

And if he noted carefully, this wasn't just any dragon; it was _Ember_! From his favourite bedtime story!

How his brothers had managed to make such an amazing piece of 3D art of one of his favourite story characters was beyond him. But he didn't think about it too much as he was too touched by their effort to cheer him up. His brothers truly loved him... a lot. All the thoughts he had the day before seemed pretty pointless now, they were just his frusterations talking.

Mikey shifted slightly and blinked open his eyes, closing them again, yawing, rubbing his eyes and then opening them before they fell on the now awake hothead.

"Mo'ning 'Aphie."

"Good morning to you too, Knucklehead. Sleep well?"

"Yeah...You're a nice pillow."

Raph half-heartedly growled, in-fact enjoying his baby brother's playful teasing.

"If you say that infront of the others, I'll personally beat the green off of you."

"He doesn't have to, we already heard what Mikey said." Leo's sleepy voice mumbled from his right, surprising him (although he'd never admit it).

"Weren't you supposed to be sleeping, Fearless? And what do ya mean by 'we'?"

"Yeah Leo! Donnie is still sleeping!"

" ...no a'm not..."

The incoherent mumble sounded tired and agitated.

"Wow, Donnie! I didn't even realize you were awake dude! It looked you were sleeping."

"How can anyone sleep when you meatheads won't stop talking?"

Mikey face twisted into a thoughtfull expression before he non-challantly shrugged. "Fair point."

"Seriously Mikey, how many times have I told you to keep your voice down when I'm asleep?" Apparently, a sleepy Donnie was a cranky Donnie.

"Hey! I'm not as good at counting endless numbers as you are."

"My point still stands.You're so loud that the whole New York would..."

Raph blocked out the rest of their conversation and focused his attention back on the painted dragon, admiring it's realistic look and art.

"Do you like it?" Leo asked in a hopeful voice.

Raph looked at his elder brother with sparkling eyes and a huge grin.

"I freakin' LOVE it!"

Leo laughed in mirth for a moment before calming, the smile on his face bigger than the one he has while watching Space heroes. His arm was still curled around Raph and he tightened it a little, in a way hugging him.

"I'm glad."

The youngest two were also beaming at him, their little squabble forgotten. They already knew that their artwork was amazing and their brother would love it but for the three of them, hearing it from Raph gave them a special kind of satisfaction and joy.

Donnie settled down on his previous position over Raph's legs as Mikey crawled back beside the hothead and curled next to him, his head resting on his brother's plastron. This confused the red-masked turtle, as he wasn't expecting them to lie back down. He actually wanted to get out of bed.

" ...We love you Raphie." Mikey said with a yawn, closing his eyes.

He smiled at Mikey's words, forgetting his confusion for a moment, but then noticed that the youngest was dozing off, his posture completely relaxed and limp (if slightly clingy). The other two were in the same prediction.

"Wait, Are you guys just gonna sleep now? We only just woke up."

Silence greeted him.

"Uh...guys? Can I get up now?"

No response.

"Mikey? Donnie?" A slight whistling sounded from the purple-masked tot, indicating that he was asleep already.

_Huh... that was kinda quick._

Raph thought and turned his head to the right, seeing the closed eyes of his big brother.

"Leo?"

"...Hmmm?"

"Can you help me out?"

Deep, ocean eyes blinked open, half-lidded and drowsy. Leo watched him for a moment and closed them again, further tightening his hold on Raph.

"Just go to sleep, little brother."

Raph watched incredulously as his only awake brother also dozed off, the tight hold never faltering. He was just trying to get out of his bed but instead, his brothers had trapped him in-between them and fallen asleep. How was he supposed to get out of their cuddle pile which made him feel so warm and fluffy and safe and content and happy and- Wait... what did he want to do, again?

Suddenly remembering that he was thinking about going out, Raph's forehead creased in confusion. Why would he want to go out? He didn't have to go to the bathroom, his brothers had placed snacks on his nightstand alongwith a cup of water which was covered to keep out any dust so there was no need to go to the kitchen, training was cancelled for today and he felt perfectly content, lying here with his siblings.

Raph gave up on his previous idea and relaxed, head lolling to the side. The painted cast came in his view and he, once again, smiled; his emotions from a while ago, when his brothers were still awake, returning with full force.

Funny how he hated his cast just a few hours ago and now, thanks to his brothers, it had become his most favourite thing.

%%%%%

**A/n: And that's the end of it(or is it?). Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot.**

**Please review! Reviews are like a fuel for us writers.**

**For those who might be wondering about what happened to the cast: Raph wanted to forever keep the masterpiece his brothers had given him so when his arm had healed, he insisted that his cast should be removed in large pieces so he could glue them back easily. Once the cast was removed, Donatello sprayed all the pieces with disinfectant and spread some plaster on their inner sides. It was then glued back together and Raph still has it, kept in a box in his room.**

**The 3D painting of Ember, made by Leo, Donnie and Mikey is one of his most prized possessions and he gets inspiration from it whenever he gets an artists block (If you didn't already know, Raph is an artist. The episode "Return to New York" from season 3 proves it).**


	9. Doctor Doctor

**A/n: This contains a couple of events based on elements from one of the stories by 'fireworksinthenight'. Not gonna tell which story though, you have to read till the end to find out.**

**Disclaimer :**

**I don't own the turtles.**

%%%%%

**Doctor Doctor**

"Needle."

An olive green hand appeared, palm up. A needle with a line of thread was placed on it and it retreated back, it's owner shown wearing a surgical mask.

The turtle's eyes were narrowed in intense focus, a drop of sweat running down the side of his face.

"How is she, Doctor Donatello?" The owner of the voice sounded worried and scared, holding a tray of tools.

"I'm not quite sure, Nurse Michelangelo. She is in critical condition, I'm afraid." He removed the mask, throwing it to the side and held out his hand towards the sea-green turtle.

"Stethoscope."

"Steto- what now?"

The genius sighed.

"Just hand me that long doctor thingie I made last week."

"Oh! Here."

After using the stethoscope, he removed it and hung it around the back of his neck.

"Scissors."

"Here you go, Doc." The object was placed in his hand and he used it on his patient lying on the medical table. He placed the scissors back on the tray and frowned sullenly.

"Nurse?" The orange-masked tutle stood straight, ready for the next order. "Bring the other tools."

"Do we really need to use them, doctor? They are quite dangerous and painful."

"I believe we have no choice, nurse. She might die if it's not done."

Michelangelo sighed sadly, trudging to the back of the lab and came back after a moment, holding a red metal toolbox with the words 'Donnie's Box' written on it. He placed it on the medical table beside their patient.

Donatello clicked the latch open and took out his soldering iron. Moving to the other side of the table, he turned the tool on, bringing it closer and closer to the patient. Mikey gulped and covered his eyes, blocking out the soon-to-be-gruesome view.

After a few intense minutes, Donnie turned off the tool in his hand and stepped back, wearing a relieved smile.

"Mikey, it worked!"

"Really?"

"Yes! See for yourself!"

Mikey dropped his hands from his eyes and stared at the medical table, an opened toaster with fixed wires lying on top of it.

"You did it! Well done Doctor Donatello!"

"I must say, I couldn't have done it without you, Nurse Michelangelo."

Saying that, he pulled his toolbox, sliding it towards himself and opened it, taking out a few pieces of small contraptions and copper wires. Dropping those objects on the table beside the toaster, he rubbed his hands in glee with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Now, time for a little tweaking."

"Uh... Donnie? What are you gonna do with those?"

Donnie paused in his movements and stared at Mikey for a moment before he shrugged, turning his attention back to the toaster.

"These? They are just some implementery motion sensors and facial feature recognizers so the formulated contraption which will be installed in the toaster could cause it to short circuit that will result in it's detonation if a certain individual approaches the vicinity of the appliance."

Mikey blinked, not understanding a word his brother had said.

"Ookay?"

Donnie turned his head to the side to hide his smirk. Using complicated vocabulary to confuse his brothers worked every time.

%%%%%

In the living room of their lair, beside the pool of water, eight year old Raphael and his elder brother Leonardo were sparring.

_Punch_

_Dodge_

"Nice work beating Donnie in morning training, Leo-"

_Kick_

"-you totally rubbed the floor with his face."

_Block_

"I don't know, Raph-"

_Side step_

"-I feel a little bad for hitting too hard. He looked embarrassed... and mad."

"You worry too much. It's not like he'd go crazy to take revenge or anything. I mean, what could possibly go wrong for winning a training session?"

"Yeah... "Leonardo sighed, blocking a strike with his arm and delivering one of his own,

"I suppose you're right."

" 'Course I'm right."

As Raph jumped to dodge a leg sweep from Leo, a loud 'Mad Scientist laughter' rang throughout the lair, originating from their younger brother's lab.

They both halted their attacks, throwing confused glances towards the origin of such noise.

"What was that all about?" Raph questioned his elder brother, still staring at the lab's doors.

Leonardo shrugged, "He's Donnie. Who knows what he is up to?"

Donnie's crazy sounding voice came through the doors once again, loud and clear.

"YES! YES!...SHE LIVES! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Rise my creation! RISE! Hahahahahahahah!"

Both brothers were looking at the huge metal doors with wide eyes, their sparring completely forgotten now.

"On second thought, I don't really wanna know what he's doing."

"Yeah... me neither."

Leo tentatively took a step back, and then another, and then another, Raph silently doing the same.

They slowly walked backwards towards the turnstiles, away from the source of scary, evil laughter.

%%%%%

**A/n: This was suppoed to be a fluffy oneshot based on one of my own head-cannons: Donnie and Mikey used to play Doctor and Nurse when they were younger. It was their secret game.** **But when I started writing it, an idea clicked and I couldn't ignore it so this was written as a result.**

**By the way, the elements used are from the second one-shot of the book "Because fandom says so" by 'fireworksinthenight'.**

**Note to everyone: Never mess with Donnie. He is dangerous.**


	10. Yellow

**A/n : I'm so, so sorry about updating so late. And this isn't even the oneshot I started writing for the next update.**

**Anywho, this takes place in season 1, a few weeks after they met April.**

**Based on a strategic board game popular in South Asia.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own April or the turtles****.**

%%%%%

**Yellow**

"Alright! Time to play some L-U-D-O!" Mikey plopped down in the pit with a small box and a thick, foldable cardboard. The box he held contained a dice and 16 pieces of four different colours, 4 pieces of each colour.

He sighed as he set the two objects in front of him, "I just love this board game... "

"Mikey, you love every single board game that involves using a dice, the reason being that you always get the number you want." The purple-masked turtle said with a flat expression.

"It's okay, Donnie." The youngest patted his brother's carpace, speaking in a low sympathetic voice, "You don't have to be jealous because I'm a lucky turtle. Someday... you'll get it too. My prayers are with you, bro."

"Jealous?!" The incredulity on Donatello's face was almost comical as he sputtered out those words, "What in the- Are you seriously implying that you think I'm jealous just because I- Ughhh!... Leo, tell Mikey to stop mocking me that way."

The blue-clad ninja was sorting the Ludo pieces scattered in the box, only halfway paying attention to what Donnie had said. "Mikey, listen to your elder brother. He means well."

Donnie's mouth fell open at this and Raph snorted from beside them as he helped Leo with the pieces. Afterall, it wasn't everyday they got to see their eldest brother talking nonsense due to focusing intensely on something else.

"Did ya even hear what he said?"

"Who?"

The hothead raised an eye-ridge at this, "Donnie."

Leo paused in his rummaging and gave his younger brother a confused look. "Donnie said something?"

Raph facepalmed, his leader must have been really, really distracted this time. But who could blame him? Dice and pieces weren't the only things the small box contained, it also held a lots of tiny toys and Mikey's collection of weird looking possessions... including yarns. Sorting out through all that junk was a feat.

"Just go back to doing whatever ya were doing and forget this conversation ever happened."

A teasing smirk found it's way on Leonardo's face as he went back to rummaging through the clutter, "But it did happen." He finally found the last piece and placed it next to the other three of the same colour. "Right?"

"Would ya stop that? You were the one super confused just a minute ago."

"I was super confused a minute ago?"

Raph gave his brother an annoyed glare, "Leo!"

"Yes?" The turtle's face was all innocence, like he didn't have a clue as to what was happening.

Raph sighed at seeing the I'm-a-totally-confused-and-clueless-little-turtle-who-doesn't-know-why-Raph-is-annoyed face. "You're such a lost cause, Leo. Ya know that?"

"But I thought that was Mikey's job?"

Before Raph could playfully shove his brother on the shoulder, Mikey quickly got between them. "Guys! Guys! No fighting."

"We weren't fighting, Mikey."

The simultaneous reply was ignored by Michelangelo as he continued talking, "We ninja brothers don't argue before starting a game."

"Yeah we do." Raph said in a flat voice, "We always do."

"Still!" Mikey put the game in the centre of their circle.

As soon as he opened the folded cardboard to show different coloured corners(red, yellow, blue and green) with a cross-shaped pathway stretching in the middle, his eldest two brothers sat in front of their signature colours, instantly claiming the red and blue.

That left Mikey and Donnie to chose from the remaining yellow and green which didn't seem like a problem. Only thing is, it actually was a problem; a very big problem.

"Well, since yellow is the colour more similar to orange, I pick yellow."

"But it's not in your favourite colours, Mikey. And I actually love this colour so that means I get to choose it."

"I called dibs on it first!"

"And I want it more than you!"

"Not true! I want it more!"

"No, I want it more!"

Raph and Leo shared a deadpanned look, clearly unimpressed at their younger brothers' antics, before they turned to see the cat- er... TURTLE fight before them.

"Why don't you just pick the green? You like it more anyway."

"So do you!"

"I only like it because it's a turtle's colour. That doesn't mean it's my favourite!"

"That's the same reason I like it!"

"But it's one of your favourites! And it suits you more!"

"Says who?"

"Says the residential genius!"

"That doesn't make you always right!"

"Yes it does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Green suits you more, Mikey!"

"Nuh uh! Yellow does!"

"Green!"

"Yellow!"

"Green!"

"Yellow!"

"Green!"

"Yellow!"

Raphael sighed and glanced at his elder brother. "Should we stop them or...?"

"No point in trying. They won't stop anyway."

"Yeah... you got that right."

They continued to watch the ongoing quarell silently. A few moments later, Raph spoke up again, his voice dripping with irritation.

"Jeez! They're even worse than us! And Mikey says _we_ are the one's who fight."

"Well, then they need to see how much _they_ fight when complaining about _our_ arguments. Remember all the times Mikey tried one of Don's inventions or just entered the lab?"

They both chuckled before falling silent once again.

"Sooo... what do we do in the meantime?"

The eldeat two shared another look, this time wearing excited smiles.

%%%%%

About an hour later, April was walking through the subway tunnels leading to the turtles' home, carrying a box of a special, four flavored, family size pizza.

As she arrived at the lair and passed the turnstiles, the noise of loud quarelling reached her ears. Confused, she went to check what all the racket was about only to find Donnie and Mikey in a heated fight.

Their voices were merging together due to talking at once, both yelling to make a point without listening to the other.

April didn't understand what they were on about and only managed to catch a few words like _Mine_ and _Fits_. But that didn't give her any clues about the reason behind their argument.

Gazing to the side, she noticed Leo and Raph sitting across from each other, enjoying a game of 'Snakes and Ladders' placed between them. They appeared to be perfectly calm and peaceful, like the World War III going on right next to them was common occurance. Judging by their relaxed postures and tuned out expressions, it probably was.

She walked towards the two and sat on one side of the opened cardboard, giving her a view of their ongoing game. "Hey Guys!"

Leo looked up after moving his piece and noticed her sitting next to them. "Hi April."

Raph was throwing the dice for his own turn. "Sup April." He greeted without looking up from his game, "Didn't notice you come in."

She chuckled, "It kinda gets hard to notice with World War III going on. What are they fighting about anyway?"

Raph shrugged, moving his piece 3 paces forward. "Yellow."

Not understanding what he meant by that, she glanced at Leo with a questioning look.

"They are fighting over which colour to choose." The blue-masked turtle answered as he picked up the dice and shook it before throwing it on the board. "We were going to play Ludo and I picked my own color as did Raph." He moved his piece 5 boxes forward, "That left Mikey and Donnie to chose from yellow and green; they both wanted yellow and have been fighting about it ever since."

"Really? How long will they keep going like this?"

Raph stole a glance at his younger brothers as he took the dice Leo handed him, "By the looks of it; a few hours, give or take."

April's eyes widened at this new information and she slowly shook her head in amazement. Do siblings always fight that way?

Looking behind her at the chaos of snapping turtles, she decided that she didn't want to know and changed the topic, "So, How's the game going?"

Leo shrugged, looking back at the board. "Good... ish. We are tied up for the last six rounds. Raph appears to be winning this one."

"No! No! Not the snake! C'mon!"

A small smirk formed on Leo's face as he watched Raph move his piece downward with a frown. "Or maybe not."

"Shut up, Fearless."

The red-headed girl smiled at their antics and opened the box of pizza she had brought, drawing their attention towards it by the delicious aroma that wafted into the air.

"Woah! Is that the Four Flavoured Special which Antonio's launched yesterday?"

"Yup!"

"Sweet!" Raph grabbed a slice of Meat-lovers, taking half of it in his mouth in one single bite. Leo also grabbed a slice from the Vege-delight part. They both devoured two slices each in a matter of seconds and before they could grab a third, April quickly closed the box to stop them.

"Woah guys, shouldn't we save the rest for Donnie and Mikey?"

The eldest two paused, sharing an unreadable look which their human friend could only interpret as silent communication.

Then they gazed back towards April and gave her a smile, creeping her out by the perfect synchronization they were unintentionally displaying.

Raph took the box from her hands and opened it, taking out another slice of hot and delicious pizza, "Don't worry about it too much, April-"

"-I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind if we borrowed their share-

"_cuz they do it all the time."

Okay... she was definitely creeped out now. Since when did Leo and Raph finish each other's sentences? And how in the world had they managed to finish the pizza while talking that she didn't even notice and only one single slice was left in the box?

Raph took out the last slice and handed it to his brother before dusting off his hands and standing up, "Besides, it's their loss."

He picked up the now empty box to take it to the trashbin as Leo enjoyed the last slice, both of them oblivious to the wide-eyed look on their friend's face.

The sounds of the ongoing quarell were drowned out as April tried to comprehend what the shell had just happened.

She didn't notice when Raphael and Leonardo returned their attention back to their game after the former came back from the kitchen or when they talked about making a Ludo which will have the green and yellow colours replaced by purple and orange. The only thing she could pay attention to at the moment was her own thoughts, wondering what would it be like to have a sibling.

%%%%%

**A/n: April... honey... you have no idea.****Having a sibling is not something that could be described into simple words. It requires a whole another experience to understand. And I think that the people who don't have any siblings and yet they understand what having one would be like are either TMNT fans or fans of any other fandom which contains too many sibling moments.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot. Thanks for reading!**

**By the way, who votes for making a LUDO which has purple and orange instead of yellow and green, exclusive just for these ninjas?**


	11. Recommendation

**Author's Note**

No readers, this is not like a usual author's note which announces about hiatus or slow updates, so stop thinking that.

This is merely my attempt to make it up to you all who were looking forward to a fluffy oneshot but didn't get it. For this I want to recommend a super fluffy story I read recently.

It is called "Big Brother" written by "outrunningdismay". It's an AU in which the turtles hatch at different times. The story is published on the Archive of our own website.

If you haven't read it, go do so right now. Trust me when I say this, it's a really good story.

On a side note: I'm currently working on the next oneshot so it would probably be posted tommorow.

Thanks!


	12. Fruit Ninjas

**A/n: This was the actual oneshot I had started writing for the previous update but I published 'Yellow' instead.**

**Human AU because there is no way to fit this idea in the normal, mutated turtle verse.**

**Enjoy!**

**Ages: Leo 16, Raph 16, Donnie 14, Mikey 10.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own these boys, I only own the tiny bot which Donnie had made. On second thought, Donnie owns it... *shrugs* Oh well!**

%%%%%

**Fruit Ninjas**

"I don't know about this, guys... Sensei will be mad."

The raven-haired teen sounded unsure, his expressions showing the disapproval of his brothers' idea.

"Please, bro! We'll be careful. Promise!"

Leonardo took a look around their vast dojo, decorated with kanji paintings and antique weapons from the heritage, their mother's bonsai tree near the window, the wardrobes and racks lining the far wall, the sliding, glass doors opening to a sakura garden having a small fountain. He was completely sure now; This was a bad idea.

"No."

"C'mon, Leo! Vacy will clean it all up." As soon his younger brother said those words, a small robot sped into the room, one of it's arms transforming into a vaccum cleaner. It circled the four brothers twice before approaching Donatello and stopping beside his right leg.

The genius crouched and patted the robots head. "See? She's a quick cleaner. The dojo will be sparkling in no time!" Donnie gave his brother a cute smile, gazing at him with hopeful reddish-brown eyes.

Leonardo's gaze drifted towards the glass doors leading to their sakura garden. About 3 dozen wooden crates were stacked outside, by the door.

These were ordered for the fruit-fest which their parents were arranging. The traditional party was hosted by the Hamato Clan every 5 years. Even Miwa was excited about it and she usually avoided anything having to do with guests.

The crates of assorted fruits stood there, untouched, waiting to be used for the festival.

"But the fruits... "

"We won't be wasting any of them."

"Yeah, bro! We'll actually be helping with the festival by slicing them! Murakami-san won't have much trouble in making awesome culinary dishes if he is given pre-sliced fruits."

Their brother sighed. Even though he agreed with this logic, he still didn't want to approve of the idea.

"No, Michelangelo. We can help Murakami with that later but we are NOT playing this game."

Mikey wilted, his shoulders slumping and a whimper escaping his mouth. He lowered his head, the curly blonde bangs falling in front of his eyes.

"B-But... you love that game, Leo. Don't you think that playing it here in real life would be even more fun?"

"Mikey..." Leo paused, chewing his bottom lip and glancing to the side.

Raph, who had been watching silently with crossed arms, noticed his brother's hesitation and made use of his vulnerability before Leonardo could get a chance to deny the idea.

"Think about it, Fearless. Donnie worked all night to make the fruit launcher machine, so _you_ could play your favourite game."

As Leo's attention was on Raph, Donnie nudged their freckled brother, subtly signaling the youngest to get ready with his act.

Raph caught the gesture in his peripheral and continued with guilt-tripping their elder brother, "And think how upset Mikey will be if you refuse. He came up with this idea for you. And he is so excited about it that saying no to him will break his fragile, little heart."

Before Leo could respond, the sound of a hiccup caught his attention and his head snapped towards Mikey. His youngest brother was staring at him with huge puppy-eyes, his bottom lip quivering and tears collecting in the baby blue orbs.

"Don't do this to me, Mikey... Please, I can't-"

He was cut off by a whimpering sob and tears fell down his baby brother's cheeks, making him reach out towards the youngest and run a hand through the blonde curls but Mikey didn't stop crying.

Leo sighed.

" ...fine."

As soon as he said that one word, the tears were gone and so were the sobs, replaced by a beaming smile. Mikey wrapped his arms around Leo, hugging him tight. "You're the best, bro!"

Blinking, he looked up at Donnie and Raph, only to see them high-fiving as they grinned from ear to ear.

"Yeah it worked!"

Leonardo covered his face with a moan, Mikey still clinging to his waist.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

%%%%%

"Ready yourselves for the next tide, losers!"

"Who are you calling loser? Loser."

"Oh! Challenging the machine-maker, are we?" Donnie gave a wolfish grin, "Prepare to be eliminated, Player 2."

A new round of fruits was suddenly launched at Mikey, majority of them being watermelons. The youngest yelped and hid behind Raph, luring the direction of the fruit-projectile at him instead.

"What the- Hey! That's cheating!"

Raph began to block and stab the various fruits when one of his sais got stuck in a watermelon. He tried pulling it out but the prongs were buried deep, not moving an inch.

"Oh C'mon! This is so not fair."

Raph shook his sai hard to release it while deflecting the rest of the fruits with his other when the second one also got stuck in a pinapple. He stared at it in a mixture of shock and incredulous rage.

"SERIOUSLY?!"

Leo laughed at this, slicing the 3 mangoes flying his way without even looking. He had long forgotten the reluctance he had been feeling about an hour ago and was enjoying the game just as much as the others. He had even lost track of time. Afterall, this was just too much fun; anyone could've lost track of time.

When Raph finally pulled his sais out, with some(a lot of) difficulty, he heard three small beaps coming from the machine, signalling the start of a different mode.

"Fearless! Incoming bonus round!"

As soon as Raph yelled this, the machine started firing a large amount of fruits at high speed. He and Leo both began to slice and swing, with a combination of complicated twists and flips as they played. The fruits they cut were flying about in every direction; striking the weapons, splattering the walls, leaving imprints on everything they hit.

"Michelangelo! Protect the bonsai!"

Grabbing his nunchucks once again, Mikey leapt in the air with his signature battle cry and landed in front of the small tree, deflecting the barrage of sliced fruits with his weapons and preventing the juicy delights from hitting the tree.

"Nobody touches mom's favourite bonsai tree, meanies!"

"Sounds too long saying it that way, doesn't it?"

The youngest paused, placing one of his nunchucks back in his belt, "You're right, Dee. It needs a name. Let's see... hmmm... It's a plant which is small and cute and- Oh!" Mikey snapped his fingers. "Hey, Leo! Can we name this tree Groot?"

As he asked that, a handful of grapes came at him from the right and he deflected those easily.

"Mikey, it's not even the same species. You see, the alien tree Groot is of the species Flora Colossus from his home planet known as Planet X, whereas this one is from the Earth, if you didn't already know, and it's called Juniperus chinensis. We can't just name a small bonsai tree on the basis of a huge- "

A smack to the back of his head stopped Donnie's rambling and he glared at his green-eyed brother as Mikey snickered in the background.

"Shut up already! Jeez... And I thought Leo was the space nerd here."

How had Raph managed to dodge all the delicious missiles to sneak up on the genius was a mystery. But one thing was for sure: while Raphael had showed impressive skills at stealth, he had forgotten that the bonus round wasn't exactly over yet.

"Uhhh... Raph?! Mikey?! A little help here!"

Leonardo called out, trying his best to slice all the pineapples, grapes, oranges, etc. coming his way, but with his brothers being busy teasing Donatello, it had become a little difficult-

A peach squashed him right on the face...

Scratch that. It had become very, very difficult.

The pulpy object slowly slid down his face and fell on the ground, making a squishy noise. After only a moment, the sound of hysterical laughter filled the air, all of it coming from Raphael.

There was a click and the machine finally stopped firing, so Leo took this time to wipe his face clean as his hotheaded brother guffawed, holding his sides. Donnie and Mikey coughed a little, attempting to cover up their own amusement at the whole thing.

"The machine has been working for a long time," Donatello explained as he put the remote away, trying his best not to giggle, "I'll restart it after a few minutes." Hearing this, Mikey sighed and sat down on the unmatted dojo floor, surrounded by bits and pieces of fruits. He picked up a strawberry lying close-by and plopped it in his mouth, relishing the delicious, red, juicy treat.

On the other side of the dojo, Raphael was still bent over, shaking from laughter when the blue-eyed teen approached him, his face now clean from all the sticky substance.

"Really? Leaving me alone to handle all that? That was low, Raph, even for you."

Raph stood straighter, getting his breathing under control after such a display. "Hey, it's not my fault Don was rambling. And besides, watching you getting smacked by a _peach_ of all things! That was pretty hilarious. I should probably take a picture of that, next time it happens. Or better yet, a video!"

Leo sent his twin a deadpanned look, "You aren't gonna let me hear the end of it, are you?"

"Nope!" Raph grinned, throwing an arm across his brother's shoulders, "Not in a million years."

The katana wielder rolled his eyes, grabbing a banana from the storage compartment of Donnie's fruit launcher.

%%%%%

"Zen mode?"

"We picked that the last time."

"Arcade?"

"It ends too quickly."

The four ninjas were sitting around in the dojo, finally having taken a few minutes break after playing for an hour.

Leo and Raph sat next to each other, their backs to the wall as they conversed, Raph occasionally teasing him about the peach. Mikey, on the other hand, was apparently trying to get them all to start playing again, his endless and boundless energy not boding well with the non-active situation. Donnie was fiddling with Vacy, holding a screwdiver and probably installing another cleaning function in it as he answered the youngest's questions.

"Multiplayer?"

"The twins will keep playing that one."

"Then decide on _something_." Mikey spoke dramatically, "I'm dying with boringness here!"

"That's not a word."

"But, Donniieeee~"

The genius finally snapped, harshly throwing his screwdiver on the ground, "WHAT?!"

"I'm bored."

The eldest three let out exasperated groans at this and Leonardo decided to save them all some misery, "Hey, Mikey, if you're so excited about doing something, go help Murakami with preparing the food."

"But I don't wanna work. I wanna playyyyyy."

"Can we _please_ just play and get done with it?!" Raph spoke up in annoyance, tired of hearing their baby brother's constant whining, "It's the only way to shut him up."

Donatello, who had his brown hair clutched tightly in his hands, slowly exhaled before he released his head and took out the remote. "What mode?" He asked in a tired voice.

Mikey's eyes lit up and before he could say a single word, Raph quickly covered his mouth with one hand and held him in place with the other arm. "Classic. Pick the Classic mode."

Meanwhile, the ten year old was putting all his strength in struggling, trying his best to get out of his more muscular brother's hold. And the surprising thing was, Big bro Leo didn't even protest it! In fact, he actually looked pretty content about this. How could he? That Traitor!

Leo got confused when he saw Mikey glaring daggers at him. It was Raph who was holding the youngest, not Leo. So why would Mikey suddenly get mad at him? He shrugged it off and stood up, unsheathing his katanas and categorising what he just saw as one of the mysteries that could never be solved.

Michelangelo somehow managed to get his mouth free and he made good use of it by whining to Raph about letting him go, and with an eye-roll, the hothead finally released the kid.

"Not fair, Raphie! I wanted to choose the gaming mode this time!"

Raph ignored his playful whines and fondly put a hand on Mikey's head, ruffling up his curly, blonde hair and forcing out a squeak of protest from him.

"H-Hey! Let go!"

As he was released for the second time, the youngest quickly moved away, opting to cross his arms with a pout. "Meanie..."

Leo chuckled at his baby brother who couldn't pull of the 'I'm mad at you' act no matter how hard he tried.

"You look cute when you're mad, you know that?"

Mikey tried to fight off the smile that was pushing it's way on his face. How could he stay angry at brothers like these, anyway? They coddled him so much.

"_Classic Mode activated._"

An automated, female robotic voice floated from the launcher, prompting the three ninjas to slip into battle ready stances with their weapons out.

There were three beeps for countdown and one slightly longer beep signaling the start, then the fun began. The fruits were coming at them at higher speed and far greater force then they've ever had before. So much so, that the bonus round seemed like a gust of wind as compared to this hurricane.

"Yo, Donnie, what difficulty level did you set?"

The genius gave an evil smirk, his reddish eyes glinting with fervours of mischief and vengence.

"Expert."

"WHaT?!"

Mikey's fear-filled squeak only caused Donnie's evil smirk to grow even more.

"What's wrong, Michelangelo? We thought you wanted to play." Donnie called mockingly from ths sidelines as he watched Mikey duck and dodge. "I mean, you were bothering us so much about it just minutes ago."

"Not Cool, Dee!" Mikey screamed as he ran past the genius once more, "Totally Not Cool!"

"Oh, and this is just the beginning. Wait till you see the multiple target function."

A banana hit him behind his knee making him stumble before he quickly caught himself, "Okay! Okay! I learned my lesson! I will never bother you so much again. Just please lower the difficluty!"

Raph leaned towards his twin brother to whisper as they continued slashing the array of bullet-fast fruits, "Remind me never to piss him off again."

"Definitely agreeing on that one. Duck!"

He ducked as an apple flew past his head and Leo slashed it.

On the other side, Michelangelo was still pleading with a smug(and scary) looking genius, "Donnie, Please! I'll do anything! Just lower the difficulty mode." He had even tried the infamous puppy-eyes but they didn't work on him like they had worked on Leo.

"You know, I would but; I can't. Once the round starts, it cannot be paused or stopped. You'll have to go through this round before you can play on lesser difficulty." Mikey let a cross between a moan and a whimper slip past his lips.

Meanwhile, Raph and Leo were having the time of their lives as they sliced and dodged, moving around the place, their motions like an elegent dance; a very dangerous and goofy elegant dance, to be exact. This mode was a fun challenge for them and the difficulty level seemed like a piece of cake as they worked as a team. Together, these two were a force to be reckoned with.

Mikey sat to the side and watched his brothers with indignation, a little bothered by the way they seemed to make it all look so easy. Unbeknownst to the youngest, they had noticed the sad and diconcerted expression he wore and subtly nodded at each other.

"Mikey," he looked up at Leo, fully expecting him to make fun of him or tease him, "how come you're not playing?" The voice wasn't mocking like the youngest had been expecting. Instead, it was casual and if he squinted, even a tiny bit... concerned?

"Yeah, bro...Come join us." Raph was being nice too?! What just happened? They should be laughing at him, not inviting him.

"Why do you care? It's not like I can play at this difficulty level anyway... " Saying that, he looked down again, glaring at the slightly wet floor.

"Just come and enjoy the game, Knucklehead. Leave all that difficulty stuff to us."

"Yeah. Run around and have some fun, lil' bro. We'll handle the rest of these missiles."

Gazing up again, he noticed that their eyes were on the fired fruits as they slashed them and dodged the bombs but their attention was on him. Feeling touched at their attempt to keep him happy, he smiled, letting go of all the envious thoughts.

Feeling like himself once again, Mikey leapt up and bounded next to his big brothers, with his nunchucks out and spinning to hit any fruits that came close.

"Booyakasha!"

They beamed at seeing their baby brother broken out of his self-concious stupor and being his wild self again. After sharing a grin, the three attacked, determined to beat the colourful hurricane and obviously have some fun too.

The mood had considerably shifted in the next few minutes. Winning wasn't even the main focus anymore, instead, they were full on having fun like they were little kids invited to an ice-cream party.

Even though they weren't even trying to win anymore and only kept messing around, Donnie's machine was still recording their progress and if anyone actually wanted to check it, they would have seen that the boys have broken the high score of all the players on the global, leader's board list of the Fruit Ninja game, reaching far beyond it. But as it was apparent, they didn't even care to see, perfectly intent on enjoying their day.

Even Donnie had started cheering them on at some point, his plan of payback from Mikey completely forgotten. The gap-toothed genious was fully indulged in watching his brothers' magnificent performance, because let's admit it, it really was magnificent.

Except for, you know, the amount of mess it was creating; like the dojo walls gave an appearance of nurf-ball shelters as the floor became a free-for-all canvas. And don't even get me started on the condition of those poor heirlooms.

But the boys were sure that their little cleaning robot will make it spotless once again so they kept having their fun; spinning and jumping and flipping and pranking and running around and laughing and swinging their weapons at the ongoing assault of fruits and cheering loudly at each other and dodging bombs and randomly catching a fruit to eat in the middle of slicing another one and striking a fruit so hard that it splatters flat on the rack and-

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

"Sensei!"

Leo twisted around in panic, alongwith the rest of his brothers, and his katana accidently struck the black bomb, causing it to explode with a bright flash and loud boom.

The brothers flinched, lowering their heads and Donnie hurriedly fumbled with his remote to turn off the launcher machine. As it stopped, he also guiltily stood beside his brothers, avoiding their father's livid gaze.

A long silence fell over the dojo, the only sounds being of the juice dripping from the ceiling.

After a full minute, Mikey leaned towards the other three and whispered, his voice still too loud to miss, "Busted..."

%%%%%

**A/n: By the confirmation of the plot-line found in imagination of 000Marie198, it is declaired that no fruits were wasted in the making of this story.**

***whistles innocently* What? You guys should have figured out I made them twins when you read the ages**.

**Oh, and one more thing:**

**_To be continued..._**


	13. Sticky, Juicy and Wet

**A/n: I'm eating mangoes! Okay, okay. On with the story.**

**Part 2 of Fruit Ninjas.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used.**

%%%%%

**Sticky, Juicy and Wet**

A slow dripping of juice from the cieling was the only sound that could be heard in the echoing silence. The walls were decorated with splatters of various colours, the blotchy marks appearing as splash-shaped stamps. A few weapons laid on the floor, haphazardly scattered with their racks stained and wet while the dojo floor was covered in pieces of fruits, peelings, pulps and juice.

The boys watched as their father's gaze moved from one thing to the next, eyes darkening more and more at each point, before he turned back to his sons, his intense glare speaking volumes.

Leo stepped forth, his hands slightly raised(as if that would somehow calm his father down) and looking as nervous as one could possibly get.

"S-Sensei, I can explain."

"Indeed, explain. Please explain to me why you boys have Turned The Dojo INTO A WARZONE?!"

They flinched again, completely terrified now that they've heard their father's 'Red Alert Voice' as Mikey had named it. In his head, Mikey saluted his brother for the heroic deed of talking to their father. '_May He, Hamato Leonardo, Rest In Peace once this is over. He will forever be remembered as the brave one, his memory never leaving our hearts.'_

Fortunately, Leo was oblivious to Mikey's thoughts and prayers.

"W-Well... you see, I- we- uhh... " he sighed, lowering his head, "It's my fault, Sensei. I gave the permission for playing real life version of Fruit Ninja."

The other three stared at their big brother in shock, who had decided to take the blame on himself. Knowing him, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise but taking the heat for something this big, in which they all played a part? That was borderline ridiculous!

Shaking his head, Raph spoke up, glaring at his idiotic twin, "Your fault? Don't even start, Leo. I'm the one who guilt tripped you into agreeing, and let's not forget that Mikey came up with the idea."

"Yeah bro, you can't just take the whole blame on yourself..." Mikey too, had joined in.

"And besides, you wouldn't even have a reason to agree if I hadn't invented the launcher."

Yoshi felt a spark of pride ignite inside him as he observed his sons standing up for their brother but he quickly repressed the emotion from appearing, keeping his face strict. He was still very mad at them and they still needed to be thought a lesson.

"So what you're telling me, is that Michelangelo thought of it, Donatello built machine for it, Raphael was behind convincing his brother and Leonardo agreead to it? Even after being aware of the reason we ordered those fruits and knowing about the heirlooms placed in the dojo?!"

The all winced at the harsh tone, understanding what they had done. The four brothers had definitely messed up... big time!

"Yes, father." Leonardo mumbled guiltily, "We realize our mistake and we deserve to be punished... some."

"Hmmm..." Hamato Yoshi scruntinized his eldest son, his arms behind his back. "And what do you think would be a fitting punishment?"

Leo looked behind him at his brothers for some support, only to see them all whistling innocently and looking anywhere but him and dad, leaving him alone to face their pissed off Sensei... as usual.

He sent them a sour look and turned back to his father, rubbing the back of his neck as he became sheepish once again. "We should- um... clean up our mess?"

The ninja master crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Leonardo, "And?"

"And..." The blue-eyed ninja dropped his hand, his voice becoming resolute as he looked back up at his teacher, "And think about what we did."

A chorus of agreements came from his brothers and he frowned. So _now_ they decided to speak?

"Very well then." Hamato Yoshi nodded, satisfied with the eldest's answer. "I expect this dojo to be spotless and perfectly arranged when I return in an hour. Is that clear?"

"Hai Sensei." They all spoke up in unison.

"Good... I shall be leaving now. There are a few matters I must attend to." Saying that, he left the dojo and slid the doors shut.

Nobody moved for a while, they stood frozen till they heard their father's footsteps slowly fade away into silence. That seemed like a huge weight off their shoulders and the boys breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Do you guys feel like he had let us off too easy?"

"Don't think so." Donnie shrugged, answering his younger brother, "He didn't know we might use Vacy or he would've given us some other punishment."

"So... we're off the hook for now?" It was Raph who asked the question this time, still anxious about his father's anger because they all knew that he never lets anything off that easy and his punishments usually involve randori sessions or getting grounded for a week(which is terrible).

"Hopefully. As long as he doesn't find out about-"

The doors opened once again and their father stepped in with two ninjas who held a bunch of cleaning supplies. As the ninjas placed all the items on the floor in front of the boys, Yoshi calmly walked behind his intelligent son's machine and crouched to pick something up.

Their work done, the uniformed ninjas disappeared into the shadows and the four brothers were left gaping at the object Hamato Yoshi was holding. His face was neutral as he watched his sons for a moment, the little cleaning robot they had initially planned to use, now being held by their father.

"Since you four were planning to use Vacy for cleaning in your place, behind my back, I'm taking it with me."

Saying that, he turned around and walked towards the door, pausing at the entrance, "You have one hour."

The doors were closed shut and silence reigned once again, only to be broken by Donnie's voice. "Were we really that stupid to forget that dad's footsteps are always silent and he might be just tricking us?"

The four boys shared a wide-eyed look, just then realizing their foolish assumptions. Mikey's eyes fell on the cleaning supplies and then at the whole place they had to clean before looking at his brothers with a hesitant smile.

"Heh... It can't be that bad, right guys?"

%%%%%

"I take back what I said. This is definitely bad... a lots and lots of bads!"

The youngest was hanging from the cieling, one hand holding his kusarigama chain and the other carrying a piece of cloth as he tried to wipe off the semi-dried juice from the smooth surface.

"This just won't get off! It's like, super-sticky or something!"

Donnie sighed as he soaked the mop he was holding before he forcefully swiped it across the floor. "Tell me about it."

"Owwww..." The blonde boy let go of the chain and dropped the rag, arms swaying limply in the air as he hung upside-down with his legs wrapped around the chain. "My poor sweet arms are about to fall off, and my legs too."

"Quit whining, knucklehead. Ya ain't the only one with tired limbs here."

"Easy for you to say, Raphie. You aren't the one who has to hang from the cieling to clean the cieling!"

"Ya think it's comfortable for me to stay balanced in the middle of a wall using shukos, and with one hand holding a wet rag?"

"Well, no. But it's soooo unfare to be-"

"Would you two meatheads shut it?!" The genius snapped, shoving the head of his spin mop in a bucket of detergent with a little too much force. "If you wanna play the blame game, blame Leo for picking the easiest cleaning job."

From the far side of the dojo, sitting cross-legged next to a bunch of weapons, the mentioned teen paused in his work and glared up at Donnie, "Hey! Cleaning the heirlooms and wiping the furniture is delicate work." He said defiantly, feeling the need to defend his choice, "Sensei wanted them to be spotless and without a scratch, and I didn't trust you guys to clean them gently without applying too much force in your scrubing."

"Sensei wanted the whole dojo to be spotless and without a scratch, Leo." Raph looked over his shoulder for only a second before turning back to harshly rub at the stains, "Even these Stupid, Damned Walls."

"But there won't be scratches on them like there could be on the heirlooms and furniture."

"Of course there can be, Bro! The paint on the walls can be scratched." Mikey stated as he swung around the place, still upside-down, like an acrobat performing in a circus.

"No, Mikey. It actually can't." Donnie spoke in his it's-important-to-be-accurate voice, not paying any attention to his baby brother's spectecular performance. "I specifically formulated that paint to withstand the disaster of wild, rambunctious ninjas."

"You are also included in those wild, rambunctious ninjas, Einstein."

"Not helping, Raph!"

Raph non-chalantly shrugged, ignoring his little brother's agitated glare, "Wasn't trying to help."

Donnie's whole face turned an angry red and Leo hid a smile behind the kamas he was cleaning as he saw his second youngest brother seething at Raph's words. He couldn't help but let out a tease of his own.

"See what I've been dealing with since birth?"

The eldest suddenly dodged to the left, avoiding Raph's wet rag with a barely contained grin. But unfortunately, his puffed cheeks gave it away and another random object was aimed his way which hit it's mark on the shoulder. All that did was make him laugh out in amusement. "Aww, what's the matter, baby bro? Angry that I picked the easiest cleaning job?"

Raph narrowed his eyes at Leo, half-heartedly glaring at his twin from his uncomfortable perch against the dojo wall.

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

"Hey bros?" Mikey suddenly spoke in a contemplative tone, his expression so serious that it took his elder brothers by surprise and they turned their full attention on him.

"What's wrong, Mike?"

He shifted his posture, bending his legs at the knees and both hands holding the Kusarigama chain as he hung from it, mimicking a perfect Spiderman pose. Pointing a finger at the bonsai(which was the only thing still intact), he gave them his famous, cute beaming smile, "Can we name him Groot?"

"Ya know what, Mikey?" The hothead jumped down and landed on the floor, slipping the shukos in his belt. "You _should_ name it Groot! I totally support you on this one."

"Really?!" The hopeful grin of that adorable kid was all the convincing anyone needed.

"Really. And 'sides, it will piss Donnie off every time we say it." Raph grinned evilly at the brown-haired teen who just rolled his eyes with a sigh.

Mikey squealed and flipped down, landing on Raph's back and wrapping his arms around his neck, hugging the hothead from behind. "You're The Best!"

Leo smiled at their antics as he wiped the last weapon left to be cleaned and placed the small tanto next to the rest with a relieved sigh. "Finally... now just the furniture is left." He looked around at said furniture and groaned as he saw the large amount of it. "I need a break. Actually, we all need a break."

"First good thing you said all day, Fearless."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, ninth. My bad."

"Alright then." Leo stood up, stretching to get the kinks out after sitting in the same position for too long. "Ten minutes break, everyone."

"Yes! Finally!" Donnie put his mop away and fell back on the cleaned part of the floor, laying sprawled out with his eyes closed. "Ahh Freedom..."

Leo chuckled at this as he passed Donnie. He walked towards his other two brothers and moved to grab Mikey who was still clinging to Raph's back like a baby monkey.

Lifting the yougest by his underarms, he gently put him down and laid a hand on his shoulder. Seeing this, Raph crossed his arms with a frown, "Why did you put him down? He was enjoying the piggyback rides."

"Because, Raphael, it's my turn to spend time with Mikey."

"No way, Leo. You played with him yesterday."

"So did you!"

"Only for an hour!"

"Yeah. And then you designed invitation cards with him for the rest of the day!"

Unbeknownst to the arguing duo, the youngest had silently tiptoed away from there and lied down next to Donnie, cuddling against him. Without opening his eyes, Donnie wrapped an arm around the small shoulders and pulled his baby brother close, blocking out the bickering noises of the twins.

"Donnie?"

"Yeah?"

Mikey slightly raised his head to stare at his immediately elder brother with a questioning gaze, "What will you call your launcher machine? It needs a name."

"Hmm... I haven't really thought about that." The genious opened his eyes and turned his head to look at his little brother, giving Mikey a gentle smile. "Why don't you come up with a name for it?"

Beaming at the suggestion, he rested his head down on the elder's shoulder.

"How about 'Fruit Cannon 5000'?"

"You know what? I like it. 'Fruit Cannon 5000' it is."

A loud thud and scuffle was heard, reminding them both about the quarrel that had been going on in the background. The eldest two were trying to pin each other, both oblivious to the fact that the subject of their argument had slipped away and was cuddling next to Donnie.

"Should we tell them?"

"Nah. They'll figure it out... eventually."

After a few minutes of peaceful rest, an elbow suddenly hit Donatello, forcefully pulling him out of his beauty sleep. He bolted up, a string of angry complains on the tip of his tongue, ready to be released but froze at the scene before him, his glare switching into a look of confusion.

Next to him, pinned on the ground and shaking from laughter was his eldest brother, Raph sitting on top of him as he tickled the poor leader senseless.

Leo caught Donnie's eyes and reached out his hand towards him, trying to sit up.

"D-Don! Hahahahaha! H-Help me!"

The genius looked at Raph, then Leo, then Raph, then again at Leo before he shrugged and grabbed Leonardo's arm, pushing it down with a grin. "Sorry big bro. You're overdue."

The look of terror in those ocean blue orbs at hearing this seemed all the more amusing to the younger three and Mikey also joined in on the fun; Afterall, it was a perfect revenge for picking the easiet task and leaving them with the difficult ones.

In just a few seconds, Leo was laughing hysterically again- his eyes filled with unshed tears as he struggled weakly in the surprisingly strong grips of his younger brothers.

This kept going for a while, with Leo occasionally attempting(and failing) to break out of their hold. He had tried everything he could but it looked like 'Success' had other plans for the day, not bothering to come to the young ninja's aid.

In all the craziness, the boys had lost track of time... Again.

Mikey looked at the clock for a second and continued to hold his brother down, before he quickly doubled his gaze back at the clock, eyes widening at the numbers he saw.

"Uh... guys?" They ignored him and continued tickling a poor Leonardo.

"Stop! I can't brea-HAHAHAHAHAHA! NO! RAPHIE! Hahahah- not the neck!"

"Oh Yes! The neck." Raph pinned his left arm and ordered Donnie to hold down the right one.

"No! Please!"

"Guys!"

"Sorry, Fearless. It's nothing personal."

"You're my twin Raph. I know you well enough to figure out if- HAHAHAHAHA! No!hahaha stahahahahahahap!"

"What did you say, Fearless? That you're enjoying this so much and you want us to continue? Okay!"

"No, Please! Mercy!"

Mikey had had enough; his brothers just weren't listening! He released his hold on Leo and stood up, mustering up his loudest voice for the upcoming yell.

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?!"

"We have like- seven minutes left before sensei arrives to check the dojo."

All eyes snapped towards the digital clock hanging on the wall before widening in horror.

Leo sat up, pushing all three of his brothers back with the strength that he didn't have a minute ago and had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh shell... "

%%%%%

Yoshi mused on his sons' progress as he approached the dojo. Truth be told, he knew exactly how hard their punishment was and how much longer it takes to clean a room after a food fight... or a game of Fruit Ninja. Afterall, he had done the exact same thing when he was a teenager but he wasn't going to tell his sons about that.

Suffice to say that one hour wasn't enough time and he wondered about their reactions as he would simply smile at them while they would be freaking out about getting in more trouble since their task wouldn't be done in time. Yes, he also knew how to do pranks; Michelangelo had to inherit his pranking tendency from somewhere.

He stopped in front of the entrance, mentally preparing himself for the disaster that would greet him before he pushed open the wooden door- and froze.

To say that Hamato Yoshi was surprised would be an understatement; In fact, he was completely baffled by the scene which greeted him.

The dojo was spotless! Sparkling like those rooms which appear in a paint's commercial. The racks were cleaned, with the perfectly shining heirlooms neatly placed on them. There wasn't a single scratch or dullness in the weapons and the glass doors and windows looked like they were brand new. Tang Shen's bonsai tree was slightly rotated, placed in a perfect angle the way she liked it. The floor didn't have a single spek of juice on it and the walls and cieling looked nothing like what they did nearly an hour ago.

The cleaning supplies were placed to the side, with the care that the dirty rags and stained water were discarded and the mop was inside the now empty bucket while the wipers, dusters and sprays laid next to the wall.

His four sons were standing in a line in birth order; their postures stiff and their body-language practically screaming of nervousness as they awaited their Sensei's judgement.

"I must admit," He said softly, looking around the vast room with something akin to admiration, "I was not expecting this."

Leonardo chuckled nervously, "Hehe... well, you always tell us that ninjas are resourcefu- AAand we worked hard to please you!"

Yoshi raised an eyeridge at Raph's nudge, the sudden switch in topic and the suspiciously innocent grins which his sons were giving him, but thinking back to all the hard work they must have done and the cleaned and sparkling dojo, he decided to ignore it.

"I really am pleased." He spoke with a proud smile, "You four did a wonderful job at cleaning up this place."

"Thankyou, father." The boys began to slowly and subtly step away from the ninja master, without giving away their attempt to escape and each of them tiptoing towards an exit with careful yet large steps. "We have learned our lesson and hope that you forgive us for messing up in the first place."

"Hmmm..." Yoshi hummed and lowered his head, acting as if he was considering those words before he looked up and nodded. "Alright then, I believe you boys are forgiven."

"Great!" Donatello's voice was slightly high-pitched as he turned the doorknob while pretending to stare at his wrist-watch. "Oh Wow! Would you look at the time? I'm late for my... thing. Bye!" He slipped out and shut the door, followed by Mikey suddenly disappearing through an open window.

Only Raph and Leo were left in the room with their father and Yoshi turned to them with a confused expression, "Is everything alright with your brothers?"

Raph gave an uncharacteristically huge smile, "Of course! Everything is perfectly fine, dad! A-Okay!"

"Yeah. Don't worry about them, Sensei. They were just feeling cooped up here and wanted to go outside."

"I... suppose. If you say so."

"And since we have nothing else to do here..." Raph grabbed his twin's arm, slowly pulling him backwards near the other set of doors, "I think Leo and I should probably go help mom to arrange the tables and chairs so... Later!"

In the blink of an eye, they were gone as well; rushed out of the door which kept swinging back and forth for a while before it gradually came to a stop.

Hamato Yoshi chuckled, shaking his head with a fond smile, "Kids."

%%%%%

As soon as he entered the lab, his safe haven, Donnie quickly closed the metal doors and leaned his back against them, exhaling in relief.

A beep caught his attention and his eyes snapped towards the metal table, a grateful smile appearing on his face. Walking towards his favourite invention sitting on top of it, he patted the head of the turtle-shaped robot, "Good job, Metalhead." He rolled his comfy, office chair towards him and sat on it, grabbing a screw-diver from one of the drawers. "Now, let's take those fruits out of you."

Making use of the screwdiver, Donnie opened a camouflaged panel on Metalhead's shell and placed his screwdiver down. Using both hands, he took out a whole lot of fruit peelings from inside the large, hidden compartment and dropped them on the table before he closed the panel once again.

He was about to unlock the second panel when suddenly, his lab's door swung open and a teenage girl dressed up in a pink and white yukata with her ebony hair pulled up in a bun strolled in.

"Donnie, mom said to get ready and... "

She trailed off as she witnessed a mountain of fruit peelings sitting on the metal table, Donnie's favourite robot next to it.

Her casual expression changed, first turning into surprise, then confusion, then realization and finally settling on mischievous, her lips pulling up into a wicked smirk. Instead of approaching him, she turned on her heel and darted towards the door, "I'm telling dad!"

Donnie's eyes widened and he jumped down from his office chair, sprinting after the retreating figure.

"Miwa, wait!"

She looked over her shoulder and increased her speed, prompting him to run faster as he saw her cross the threshold and turn down the hall, but he couldn't catch up to her. _Damn... when did she get so fast? And wearing a yukata, no less._

"Please stop!"

Seeing the sunlight shining through the corridor which lead to their front yard, Donatello was left with only one choice or they'll be doomed for good. As soon as he gained the correct momentum, he lept at her and tackled her legs, trapping the kunoichi from moving further.

"Hey!"

"Don't tell father, Miwa. Please! I'll do anything!"

Was this Karma for what he did to Mikey? If so, then Karma certainly sucked.

"Did you just say... anything?" There was eagerness in Miwa's voice as she said this and her brother had picked up on it too, making him second-guess his choice of words.

"Uh, m-maybe?"

"Well... If you don't want to then I'll just go and-"

"Alright! Alright! I'll do whatever you want." Donnie grumbled, standing back up and dusting his clothes. "Just don't tell dad, you Evil Mistress."

The smirk returned, bigger than the last one, "Okay. Then I will want you to make something for me, something unusual which only you are capable of making."

"And what would that be?"

She shrugged, "I don't know yet. I'll tell you when I think of something."

Donnie gave her a deadpanned look, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope."

"Nevermind... I'll invent your unknown, imaginary, future toy as long as you don't rattle out our secret to anyone."

Miwa gave him a small smile which was a mixture of both pleasure and cockiness, "It's been nice doing business with you, Hamato Donatello."

"Haha... Real funny, Miwa. My stomach hurts just from laughing." Even though the girl held his fate in her hands, the genius still couldn't prevent his sarcastic side from appearing. "Anyway, there are certain terms that apply on our agreement."

Miwa crossed her arms, eyes narrowing at her younger brother in suspicion, "What are the so called terms?"

"First of all, you can't back up on the deal, No.Matter.What. I'll make whatever you want me to and in return, you'll never tell father about what happened."

"That one's quite obvious, Don. Tell me what you really want."

He sighed, "Alright then... Secondly, you will not use the knowledge of what you had witnessed to blackmail Leo, Raph or Mikey to do what you want them to do. And lastly, if you don't agree to all these conditions or break any of them, well... let's just say that we also know who keeps sneaking out at 2AM to meet up with Shinigami and prank the ninjas of our patrol staff."

Her eyes widened in horror before she once again narrowed them at the genius, "You wouldn't."

Donnie casually leaned against the wall, his expression becoming smug now that he held all the cards. "I totally would."

"That's not fair, Don."

Donnie shrugged, "What can I say, Sis. Life's not fair..." He pushed off the wall, standing straight as he held his hand out, "So, do we have ourselves a deal?"

Miwa took a moment to consider the pros and cons of the agreement, alongwith the risks she would face if she denied. After her long and careful consideration, she hesitantly shook the hand held out towards her. "Deal."

_Yay!_ Donnie squealed with joy on the inside, trying to appear perfectly neutral on the outside as he fought off a smile. He quickly calmed his extremely happy emotions, just enough for his smug grin to make an appearance.

"It's been nice doing business with you, Hamato Miwa."

"Shut up."

The snicker that followed after those words was countered with a half-hearted punch, which the brown-haired teen easily dodged and skipped towards his room to get ready for the upcoming festival.

Miwa shook her head as she watched her little brother go, unable to decide whether she should feel sour and angry, or fond and exasperated.

%%%%%

**A/n: And that's the end of it. Donnie told his brothers what had occured and the whole Metalhead incident became a secret between the siblings which nobody else knew about. All of them helped with the preparations for the event and they enjoyed a fun-filled festival.**

**Moreover, no fruits were wasted as Mikey used the intact ones to prepare the dishes while the squashed ones, which were inside Metalhead's container were used to make fruit-scented candles, air fresheners and other things, or were fed to Spike.**

**Anyway, I had so much fun writing this that I actually want to write a multichapter fic in this verse. And Miwa is 15; older then Donnie and Mikey but younger than Leo and Raph.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Btw: I need prompts. Running out of ideas here!**


	14. Child's Play

**The turtles are four years old and haven't recieved their weapons yet.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own the tots.**

%%%%%

**Child's Play**

Mikey was lying plastron down on the floor as he went through the pages of his comicbook for the seventeenth time that day.

He had nothing fun to do and was Totally, Completely, Highly, Super Mega Bored. He sighed, dramatically flipping over so he laid on his shell instead.

The young turtle moved his gaze around the room for something - anything - that might be interesting when his eyes caught sight of a blue coloured cloth with its corner hanging out of a wooden chest. That suddenly gave him an idea and he flipped up, running out to look for his best friend and invite him to play.

Mikey found the person he was looking for sitting on a bed in his own room and he walked towards him to stand beside the turtle.

"Hey Donnie?"

"Hmm?" Donnie hummed distractedly as he shuffled through the pages of a book he was reading, his tongue sticking out and reddish brown eyes completely engrossed in the text.

"Can you play Dragon Knight with me?"

'Dragon Knight' was a roleplay game Leo had made up a week ago and Mikey loved it. This was the first game that came to his mind whenever he wanted to play.

"Sorry, Mikey. I want to read this new book Sensei found yesterday when he went scavenging." Donnie held up the thick, gray colored book with the words 'Principles and Uses of Kinetics' typed on its cover in a bold font.

"Why don't you go ask Leo? He loves playing with you."

The orange-masked turtle perked up once again and went out in search of Leonardo.

After looking around for a couple of minutes, he found his eldest brother in the dojo, standing by a weapon's rack. The blue-masked tot was about to grab something from the rack when Michelangelo bounded next to him.

"Hey Leo!"

"Hi Mikey!" Leo ruffled Mikey's head with a smile, drawing out a giggle from the freckled turtle. "What's up?"

"Will you come and play Dragon Knight with me?"

"I-uh..."

Leo started hesitantly, not wanting to upset his baby brother but having no other choice. He sighed with dismay, his smile dropping as he lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Mikey. I would really love to play with you but father just asked me to practice with a boken."

Mikey's shoulders slumped and he turned his back to the eldest, dragging his feet out of the dojo with heavy steps and a sad whimper.

Leonardo's face fell as he watched his little brother leave, his thoughts filling up with guilt for making Mikey sad. But Leo really did have to train with a boken and he turned to pick up the wooden weapon from the rack, pushing back his guilt and promising himself to make it up to Mikey by giving him his favourite sword.

Mikey sat down in front of the steps of the pit... all alone... with no one to play with. He sniffed as tears gathered up in his baby blue eyes and he wiped them away with the back of his hand.

"Mikey?"

He heard Raph's concerned voice and felt him sit beside him, their shoulders touching before the hothead wrapped his arm around the sea green turtle in a side hug.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Mikey sniffed once more while rubbing his teary eyes and leaned into Raph's side.

"No one wants to play with me. Donnie is busy with his boring book a-and... Leo is busy with his boring... training and none of them agreed to play Dragon Knight with me."

"I will play with you." Raph said softly as he pulled away Mikey's chubby hands from his eyes and wiped his baby brother's tears.

"Really?"

"Really." He said in a determined voice and stood up, holding out a hand towards the orange-masked turtle.

Said turtle gave him a cute, beaming smile as he grabbed the hand and was pulled to his feet by his green-eyed brother.

Mikey didn't give Raph a chance to say a single word as he threw himself at him, enveloping his brother in a hug.

"I love you, Raphie."

Raph stood frozen for a moment with his eyes blown wide before he slowly wrapped his arms around the smaller turtle, hugging him back and nuzzling the top of his head.

"Love ya too, lil' brother."

%%%%%

Epilogue:

A giggle rang throughout the lair, followed by loud stomping noises and horse sounds.

One little turtle was carrying a plastic sword in one hand and a cardboard shield in the other as he wore a blue cape.

The other little turtle was on his hands and knees, with the first one sitting on his back. He crawled around as he pretended to be a horse and gave ride to the younger turtle.

"Onward my noble steed!" Mikey cried out, pointing the toy sword at an imaginary foe as he sat on Raph's shell who kept grinning from ear to ear.

"We must defeat the evil dragon and save the princess!"

Standing atop the Tv and watching the battle from a high vantage point, Spike tilted his head, which had a shiny red ribbon wrapped around it and the ends tied up in an elegant bow.

%%%%%

**A/n: Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review! You guys have no idea how much they motivate me.**

**And Slash still remembers the faithful day when he was called Princess Spike.**


	15. Medicine

**A/n: I'm surprised that nobody figured out about the sword Mikey was holding in the epilogue of previous oneshot. Anyway, this is a Follow-up / Sequal of 'Painkiller'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

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**Medicine**

"Haha! Take that Nightwatcher07!" Mikey yelled as he pushed the buttons on his controller with lightning speed.

Raphael sat beside him, holding his own controller as he focused on the screen. "Give it a rest, Mike. I ain't done with you yet." As soon as he said this, his character launched a special attack on PizzaTurflytle12, defeating the annoying little furball in seconds.

"Nooooo! My poor monkey! You can't die!"

Raph threw his controller to the side with smug satisfaction and leaned back, hooking his hands behind his head. "And that is how you beat The Gaming King."

Mikey was staring pitifully at the screen, his lips trembling and eyes full of crocodile tears. Raph smirked, about to point out to his little brother that he was more of a Drama King than The Gaming King when Leonardo trudged in, his expression grim.

That immediately drew the hothead's attention, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Cobalt eyes glanced at the hallway leading to their rooms before turning to the sitting duo, emotions of worry and concern clear in them.

"Donnie is sick." He said it like it was a grave news, and judging by the looks Raph and Mikey shared, it probably was.

They didn't give Leo a chance to say another word and rushed past him towards Donatello's room. The blue-masked turtle sighed before following them at a slower pace.

When they reached the door and pushed it open, they were greeted by the sight of their sick brother who was coughing nonstop and his sleep appeared to be anything but restful. Tears leaked from under Donnie's eyelids as he tried to breathe through his immense coughing.

Raph hurried beside him and kneeled on the bed, patting Donnie's chest while he carefully pulled him up and leaned him against his plastron. Don's coughing fit eventually stopped and he sagged against his hotheaded brother.

Raphael let him stay that way for a minute, rubbing his plastron as Mikey and Leo morosely stared on. Then he gently laid the sleeping turtle down, covering him with a blanket.

Mikey pulled out a chair from under the study table and placed it by the bed so Raph could sit on it instead of kneeling uncomfortably on the mattress.

The red-clad turtle seated himself on the chair his younger brother had brought for him and took a hold of Donnie's hand.

"When?"

It was a vague and unclear question that didn't make much sense but apparently, Leo had caught the meaning behind it as he begin to answer in an emotionless voice.

"I went to ask him why he didn't come to eat pizza and noticed that he looked more exhausted than usual. That's when I took note of his unfocused eyes and high temperature so I brought him to his room. He was swaying on the way here."

After Leo finished, Raph let out a long sigh as he kept watching Don, not taking his eyes off of him. Leo stared at the hothead sadly before he quietly left the room, leaving his younger brothers to watch over Donnie.

It had only been a minute after the eldest had gone out when the young genius began to moan, shaking his head from side to side. Mikey hurried beside him and stroked his forehead, "It's okay, Donnie. You're alright."

That seemed to calm him down and he slowly blinked his eyes open, half-lidded and dazed. They moved around the room before snapping wide, followed by their owner bolting up.

"The upgrades! I have to get to the lab!"

Two pairs of hands stopped him from getting out and pushed him back.

"Woah! Easy there, Donnie! The experiments can wait but right now, you need to rest."

He resisted against his brothers as he tried to bolt out again, only to be stopped by Raphael's hand on his plastron which prevented him from sitting up. He didn't stop struggling though.

"Quit squirming! Dammit!"

That's when Leo came in, holding a bowl filled with water and a piece of cloth. He paused for a moment as he took in the scene before him and frowned. In his most effective big brother voice, with a hint of warning lining his tone, he called out, drawing his brothers' attention on himself.

"Donatello, settle down at once!"

That put a sudden halt to Donnie's struggles and the sick turtle lay1 back with a pitiful whine. Mikey and Raph slowly released their hold on him and backed away, allowing Leo to sit beside him.

Leo's frown deepened when he checked Donnie's temperature and felt heat radiating off the olive green skin. He soaked the cloth in the bowl before wringing it and wiping it across his brother's head, face and neck. That seemed to bring the genius some comfort since he relaxed, closing his eyes with a sigh. Leonardo wet the cloth once again and placed the dripping fabric on Donnie's forehead, letting it stay there.

"The fever's getting worse." Leo stated with concerned eyes as he swiped a thumb across his gap-toothed brother's cheek.

"What do we do?"

"We need to inform Master Splinter about this. He has those medicinal herbs somewhere in his room. Raph, think you could-"

"On it." Raph cut his brother off and strode out. He felt useless just standing there and was glad to be of some help.

While their attention was on the door Raph had exited through, the purple-masked ninja slowly sat up and swung his legs to the side. He pushed himself up and with silent steps, walked next to his study table and pulled out a screw-diver and a weird looking visor out of his drawer.

Their trained sense of hearing picked up the small sound of squeaky screws and their eyes left the door, snapping towards the source of the noise.

"Donnie! What are you doing?!"

The objects fell out of Donnie's startled fingers as he winced before slowly turning to face his brothers.

"I'm... fixing it?"

"While you have a very high fever?"

"Uhh... m-maybeee..."

Leo grabbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "Donnie, just... get in bed. Now."

The olive skinned turtle dragged his heavy feet in the direction of his bed, his expression that of a kicked puppy and his head lowered. It was all Leo could do to hold himself back from comforting his brother. Why did little brothers have to act so cute?

Donnie's stomach growled before he could sit down which reminded his elder brother that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

"Oh right, you're still hungry."

"Hungry? Dude, he must be starving! I'll heat up the leftover pizza. Be right back!"

Michelangelo rushed out of the room and zoomed past a startled Raphael who quickly steadied the cup of tea. A few drops had spilled out on the tray and Raph contemplated about yelling at his inconsiderate brother but decided against it, not wanting to spill anymore tea.

He marched towards Donnie's bedroom and before he could step inside, Mikey zoomed past him again, forcing him to grab the edge of the cup as curses flew out of his mouth. He shook his head and entered, handing the cup to Leo and taking seat at the foot of the bed.

%%%%%

"Donnie, please. You have to drink this in order to heal." Leo pleaded as he brought the cup to Donnie's lips for the eighteenth time.

"Don' wannaaaa." The second youngest whined, turning his head away once again.

"You won't get better if you don't drink it." Leo insisted as he continued to chase his brother's mouth with the cup, who kept moving away from it.

"But it tastes so bad."

"I'll call Master Splinter and tell him." Mikey threatened in a convincingly threatening tone.

Donnie's eyes widened and he snatched the cup from Leo's hands, emptying the whole mug in one single gulp. He couldn't hold back a grimace after it though, as the unpleasantly bitter taste was registered by his tongue. He shuddered and pushed the cup towards Mikey as if it burned.

"Yuck!"

"I know, bro." Mikey said sympathetically as he rubbed Donnie's shell, "Sensei's medicinal teas definitely taste terrible. Even Leo doesn't like them and he's a tea-lover."

"Try eating some pizza. It might help with getting rid of the aftertaste." Leo placed the plate in Donnie's hands as he suggested this.

The gap-toothed turtle reluctantly took a single bite from the slice, chewed it and swallowed it down with some difficulty. He seemed to be having a hard time while doing so and pushed his plate back, deciding that he didn't want to eat it.

"Would you eat something else, then?"

"No." Donnie said in a small voice as he coughed.

Leo leaned forward and stroked his forehead, not being able to ignore his big brother instincts any longer. After he was reassured, he turned to Raph and Mikey and they all huddled up to discuss on how to take care of their sick brother.

As they exchanged views and ideas, Raph fell silent for a moment and turned around to check on Donnie, only to see his brother crawling away under the bed.

"Oh no you don't!"

He grabbed his ankle before he could disappear under the wooden frame and pulled him out, raising an eye ridge at the indignant pout and the dust bunnies sticking to Donnie's arms and face.

Raph's sudden exclamation had caused Leo and Mikey to twist around as well and they rushed next to him, brushing off the grey clumps from their still pouting brother.

After the dust bunnies were removed, they hefted their brother up and put him on his bed. The eldest walked in front of Donnie and stood there with crossed arms and narrowed eyes, recalling that this innocent looking culprit had tried to sneak away before.

"If you don't stay in bed, we are gonna have to take serious action. Understood?"

There was no sort of response to Leo's inquiry.

"Donatello, do you understand?" He asked more sternly this time, calling upon the power of full names. It worked and the pale turtle begrudgingly nodded as he grumbled something incoherent.

"Good. Raph, keep an eye on him. And Mikey, cook something which he will be able to eat easily." After giving out the orders, he turned around and left, but not before giving his little brother's forehead another gentle stroke.

Leonardo headed to the dojo for some meditation. He needed to settle his thoughts so he wouldn't go into motherhen mode. He was already having a hard enough time to keep up the strict persona what with Donnie's tearful puppy eyes, reinforced by the effect of his fever reddened muzzle and- No! Stop thinking about that. Donnie will be fine. Raph is taking care of him.

%%%%%

Sitting by the bed in a half-lit room, watching his sick brother suffering and not being able to do anything about about it was making the hothead agitated. He kept shifting on his seat, thinking hard on anything that he could do to help when his eyes caught sight of a thin book wedged under all the notes and pages heaped on the study table.

Donnie had hidden his Beauty and the Beast book well, but Raph was a ninja too and he had noticed the golden patterned corner sticking out of the mountain of papers.

For the next half hour, Raphael read the storybook to his brother and Donnie didn't complain, content on hearing his hotheaded and usually tough brother read the fairytale to him. He dozed off while hearing the second last chapter and began whistling through his tooth gap as he fell into a light slumber.

Figuring that he can go to the bathroom now that his brother was settled, Raph covered him with the bunched up blanket and, tiptoing as silently as he could, headed out. As soon as he was outside the door, he all but ran towards the restroom, indicating that he might've been holding it in for a while.

After about five minutes, the door of Donnie's room was kicked open from the outside and the silhouette of the youngest turtle appeared in the doorway.

"Here is tonight's Mikester Special!" Mikey announced with a dramatic entrance, holding out a tray with garnished soup and a glass of water on it as he showed off his signature smile.

The smile fell, however, as the freckled turtle took in the sight of an empty bed and no sign of the sick genius.

"Oh, C'mon. Not again!"

He settled the food tray on Donnie's nightstand before running out of the room.

"Leo! Raph!" His loud voice floated down the hallway and echoed throughout the lair. "We have a problem!"

The eldest two instantly recognized what the problem might be by the tone of Mikey's voice. Leonardo sighed and left the dojo, his meditation ruined, while Raphael grumpily walked out of the bathroom, muttering words like, "That stubborn little nerd." and "I left him alone for five minutes and this happens."

The three brothers met up in the pit, an annoyed expression showing on each face.

"We seriously need to tie him to the bed this time! He keeps escaping whenever one of us either gets distracted or goes outside for something."

"Yeah! He is getting even harder to keep a vigil over!"

"You guys are right." Leo sighed, "Donnie's getting out of hand."

"Permission to tie him up, Chief?"

"Permission granted." As if he had a second thought, the blue eyed leader quickly spoke again, before his brothers could enact the plan.

"And no ropes."

Mikey opened his mouth to say something but before he could get a word out, his eldest brother glared pointedly at him.

"Or chains."

He closed his mouth with a dejected look.

"Chains would have been fun to use, though."

"And uncomfortable for Donnie. He would feel like a prisoner."

"But if we can't use these things, what do we tie him up with?"

"The bedsheets, ya numbskull."

"Oh!"

"C'mon guys. Let's look for Donnie."

They checked the lab first, figuring that their brother would have went there and sure enough, Donatello was found in his lab, trying to tinker with one of his unfinished inventions as he held a wrench with shaking hands.

Leo shared a look with Mikey and nodded. The orange-clad ninja slipped out of the lab, catching the leader's silent order.

Raph cleared his throat, alerting Donnie of their presence and the genius jumped at the sound as he twisted about to see who had startled him.

"Leo? Raph? Ummm... this isn't what it looks like!"

"I'm pretty sure it is, Donnie. You sneaked out again when I left to go to the bathroom."

"B-But-"

"You were supposed to stay in bed." Leo stated with crossed arms and his voice deathly calm - it sent shivers down Donatello's spine. "And since you don't heed our warnings, we'll make sure you won't leave your bed this time."

Donnie started backing away a little, his eyes holding terror as he stammered out in a high-pitched voice, "W-What are you g-gonna do?"

"Raph, bring him to his room while I go grab some extra pillows. Make sure he's in bed by the time Mikey is done."

The red-masked ninja cracked his knuckles with a wolfish grin.

"With pleasure."

Reddish-brown eyes widened even more as their owner backed away, "W-Wait! No!"

He even tried to turn around and run but that was all for nought though, since he was much slower and sloppier than usual and was soon caught by his strong big brother.

"NO NO NO! LET ME GO! NO PLEASE! NO!"

Raphael rolled his eyes as he maintained a hold on his brother's arm who was struggling and screaming like a 4 year old kid who doesn't want to go home from a park.

"You're being over-dramatic. Now c'mon."

Donnie began digging his heels into the floor as the other turtle pulled him along, making things much harder for both of them.

Raph paused, glaring over his shoulder, "Donnie, if you don't come willingly, I'll carry you inside. In a way that you'll hate very, very much."

The fever must've made him quite loopy because Donatello ignored the threat and kept trying to back away.

Raph picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He carried his brother to the room, ignoring Donnie as the gap-toothed turtle kept punching his shell and screaming at him at the top of his lungs to put him down.

%%%%%

Mikey was attaching the twisted bedsheets to the frame as Leo set up the various pillows in a strategic position so they would make a comfy nest. Raph entered and unceremoniously dropped his brother on the bed, having no regard of putting him down gently after all those pointless struggles he had to endure.

It looked like Leo approved of it too, since he didn't reprimand him and just gave a grateful smile before grabbing Donnie's arm to tie him up, though making an effort so he was in a comfortable position. Michelangelo did the same on the other side as Raphael held their sick brother down.

In just a couple of minutes, Donatello was tied to the bed nice and secure, with no way of getting out. Not to mention that he was positioned in such a way over the nest of pillows that he wouldn't feel the slightest of unease and the sheets bound around his limbs were not tight enough to cut off the circulation.

Mikey began to feed him the soup and frankly, Donnie loved it! So much so that he ate it quickly without any fuss. Soon, the bowl was finished and Mikey took it to the kitchen while the eldest two tightened the various knots under and around the bed frame, making sure that they haven't missed something.

"That should hold him!" Raph stood up with a smirk, making an act of dusting his hands off while he felt a sense of great accomplishment.

"Yeah." Leo agreed with his younger brother as he secured one last last knot before standing up as well. "He won't be able to get out of these."

%%%%%

Fifteen minutes later, a red-masked and a blue-masked turtle could be seen dragging away a purple-masked one as he slouched limply from their hold on either side, while an orange-masked one followed after the trio.

They took him to his room and forced him to lie down on his bed, which turned out to be quite difficult.

"Alright Donnie, this has to stop." Raph grumbled strictly, his voice holding a hint of annoyance. "Do you want us to use ropes instead?"

Donnie just crossed his arms with a pout as he avoided eye contact with his mean and bossy brothers(mean and bossy in his current opinion, that is).

Mikey stared at him sadly before an idea struck him, making him grin. It was high time that The Incredible Michelangelo came to the rescue.

"Dudes, I have the perfect plan to keep him from getting out again!"

"Michelangelo, we talked about this. We won't be using any chains since they will make him feel even worse and..."

Leo trailed of as the youngest skipped towards the bed and lay down beside their sick brother, hugging him tight and making himself comfortable.

"Or that could work too. Nice thinking, Mikey!"

"Bros," Mikey's eyes twinkled as he looked towards the eldest two, "never underestimate the power of cuddles."

Raph grinned and turned to Donnie who was still pouting, "Will you try to escape now, Genius?"

Donatello sent him a glare and moved to get up. As soon as he sat up a little, a whimper escaped the freckled turtle and he tightened his hold on Donnie.

He stilled, looking down at his baby brother with hesitation. He didn't want to upset Mikey since the turtle had taken care of him and made him delicious soup when he was hungry and couldn't eat anything. Donnie sighed before lying back, letting Mikey happily cuddle against him.

Raph and Leo shared an amused look before the latter headed towards the door. "Just tell Mikey if you need anything and he'll text us, okay? Goodnight, Donnie."

Saying that, the eldest left the room, leaving the door ajar. Raph stayed for a minute longer, gazing at his younger brothers with an unreadable emotion.

Laying a hand on Donnie's shoulder, he spoke, his voice uncharacteristically soft, "You know we care about you, right?"

Donnie could only blink at him with confused and feverish eyes, making him sigh.

"Go to sleep, little brother." Raph patted his shoulder and stood up to leave. As he reached the door he took a look at the bed and saw that Donnie had finally nodded off, with the youngest cuddled next to him like a teddy bear. He smiled, turning back to the door and leaving the room.

Leonardo was standing outside, leaning against a wall. "Is he asleep?"

"Yeah... completely knocked out."

He let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God! I thought he'd never rest."

"Me too. Think Mikey'll keep him in bed till the stubborn genious is well rested?"

The eldest gave him a knowing smile, "I know he will. If anyone can do it, it's Mikey."

Raph chuckled, "Of course he could. That kid's got some damn good manipulative skills."

Leo grinned and pointed his thumb back, towards the entance of the hallway, "Let's head to the pit and play some video games while we keep an ear out for those two."

Raphael threw an arm across his brother's shoulders as they both began to walk in the direction which lead to their living room.

"Couldn't have agreed more."

Fortunately enough, there hadn't been any incident for the rest of the night which involved a certain sick turtle trying to get out of bed. Apparently, Mikey's snuggles had made him comfortable and drowsy enough that he slept soundly without his rest getting interrupted by coughs or his thoughts drifting to the upgrades.

%%%%%

When Donatello blinked his eyes open the next day, he still felt a bit disorientated and drowsy but his fever was gone and so was the itchy tingling in his throat. His mind tried to catch up to what had occured when all of a sudden, the memories of the previous day returned with a rush, forcing him to grab his head with a groan.

A soft click was heard and someone entered his room. After a moment, he felt his bed dip a little by the weight of one of his brothers sitting on it and a hand gently grabbed his shoulder.

"How are you feeling, bro?"

"Bit dizzy... and tired. The itch is gone and my chest doesn't hurt anymore."

As Donnie spoke in a hoarse voice, Leo propped up a few pillows so his younger brother could comfortably lean back against them without having to tire himself out just for sitting up.

"Other than a very small headache, I'm feeling much better."

"That's good. But you're still on bedrest till Sensei gives the OK."

Donnie's face fell, "I know... "

"Hey, don't get sad. We'll make sure that you get better soon and Mikey can keep you entertained."

The genius was pushed back so that he leaned his shell against all the pillows his brother had set up for helping him stay upright.

"Speaking of Mikey, where is he?"

"He's cooking some more of that 'Mikester special' for you."

Donnie smiled at hearing the name of the delicious noodle soup he had last night and tried to ignore the memories of all the silly things he did. "What about Raph?"

"Raph is helping Mikey with the soup."

He stared at the eldest with a confused expression, "And why aren't you with them?"

Leo's cheeks turned bright red and he mumbled something in a very low voice, avoiding eye contact.

"Huh?"

"They kicked me out of the kitchen."

"Let me guess. You tried to make breakfast and they couldn't allow it?"

"Lunch actually. You slept through the morning."

The genius fell silent at this new information before he suddenly moaned, feeling a slight ache flare up behind his eyes. He closed them and waited for the feeling to pass, which quickly did as something touched his forehead and closed eyes before slowly moving down.

Donnie sighed in content as a hand caressed the side of his face and he leaned into the caring touch.

"Ani, need... hug."

"You need a hug?" A small nod was given in response.

"Alright, come 'ere."

Strong arms enveloped his frame, pulling him close and he snuggled against his big brother's plastron, reveling in the warm embrace and deciding that nothing could ruin this moment for him...

"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty. About time you woke up."

...till now.

"Awww! This is so adorable! Hold the tray, Raph. I need to take a picture of this."

There was a loud flash and then he could hear the rest of his brothers walk towards him. He ignored them and remained snuggled in Leo's arms.

Raph sat the tray down on the nightstand before he plopped down on Donnie's other side, his expression becoming soft as he took in the content look his immediately younger brother was wearing.

He put a hand on Donatello's forehead to check the temperature and smiled, "His fever is gone."

"Really?!" Mikey exclaimed with relief and excitement, "Does this mean he's getting better?"

" 'm fine, Mikey."

The three brothers good-naturedly rolled their eyes at hearing this before Leo gently pushed his clingy brother off of him and leaned him against the set up pillows.

Raph grabbed the spoon and stirred the soup with it as Mikey pulled a blanket over the genius. Filling up the spoon with the steaming liquid, he brought it to Donnie's lips with a teasing grin. "Choo Choo! The train is coming! Open up!"

"I can eat by myself, you know." Donnie grumbled as he sent the red-clad turtle an irritated glare.

"Of course we know. But that ain't mean we're gonna allow you to do so right now."

"Just... humor us. Okay Don?" Leo said softly as he patted his arm, "We'll let you eat by yourself when you'll get better."

Figuring he had no other choice but to do as told, the young genius sighed and opened his mouth, allowing Raph to spoonfeed him with some occasional teasing.

As he sat there flanked by his brothers - with Raph feeding him, Leo making sure that he was comfortable and Mikey telling him some funny stories to keep him entertained, Donnie thought back to the events of the previous night and how fast he was recovering from a fever which usually takes a whole week to break.

At that moment he realized that his brothers weren't just his Painkillers.

They were also his Medicine.


	16. Master Plan

**A/n: Sorry that I took this long to update but my best friend came to visit me three days ago and we met after a whole year!(since she lives in another city). I got busy with her and was so excited that I couldn't write a thing. Anyway, here is the next oneshot.**

**This takes place in season 3, a few weeks after 'The battle for NewYork'.**

**Requested by 'CharmGirlLove'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.**

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**Master Plan**

His eyes slowly slid open and he blinked, trying to clear the blurriness from his vision. When the foggy haze cleared away, he scrunched up his face in confusion. "What the... "

Why was everything upside-down?

The confusion lasted for maybe 5 seconds before he registered that the world was normal but he was hanging upside down, his arms bound tightly to his sides. He struggled to get free but couldn't move and finally noticed that he was in some sort of glass tank. It looked very familiar but he couldn't place his finger on it, like something was blocking his memories.

He shifted again and finally looked down- up? at his feet, only to catch sight of another pair of green feet bound to his by the ankles with a thick, electronic strap around them. The strap was attached to a metallic rope which trailed to the curved roof of the glass cylinder.

He gasped, suddenly remembering everything as the effect of whatever drug he was given wore off; Them playing ninja tag on the rooftops – running with his brother to catch the other two – a dart hitting him out of nowhere – him falling – Leo's yell – seeing his brother fall next to him with a dart sticking out of the neck – his vision going dark.

"Leo!"

A groan sounded from behind him, confirming his suspicions; Leo was caught too. He tried to move but the same type of metal straps which were around their ankles also bound him and his brother shell-to-shell, preventing any movement, so he opted to look over his shoulder instead, catching a glimpse of the blue bandana hanging down.

"Leo? You okay?" He asked again, with less panic this time.

"...Raph?" He felt his brother shake his head to clear away the fogginess, "Where- What's going on?"

"We were captured. Can't pinpoint exactly who did this though."

"I think it's... the Kraang."

Now that he thought of it, the glass prison they were in looked excatly like the one which they had been locked inside at TCRI and as he looked outside, the shiny metal walls alongwith pink and purple lights further confirmed it. There was just one, small problem though.

"Didn't we defeat them a few weeks ago? They were gone."

"I know. But apparently, they decided to come back and play Catch the Turtle with us."

One of the large walls swished to the side, opening to reveal Kraang Sub-prime, driving in his Irma-bot. He entered the large chamber and the wall swished close behind him. Grinning like a maniac, Sub-prime approached their prison, glee clear in his movements.

"So the freakin' turtles are finally awake. Welcome to Dimension X, morons."

"Great." Raph muttered under his breath as he glared at the annoying alien, "Just what we needed."

%%%%%

"This is bad! This is really, really bad!" Donnie paced back and forth on a rooftop where he last saw his brothers, his anxiousness increasing by each passing second. "How did we let them get caught so easily? They were right behind us!"

"Donnie, calm down. We'll get them back." Mikey tried to reassure both his brother and himself. He was just as worried as Donnie was about the others but if following Leonardo had thought him anything, it was remaining calm when the situation required it. Leo and Raph were out of the equation and Donnie was freaking out so the responsibilty of being sensible fell on him; which was, ironically, the exact opposite of his usual personality.

"How?!" The purple-masked ninja swirled around with panic-stricken face, "They could be anywhere and they just disappeared! We don't even have a clue about who took them."

"Dude!" Mikey grabbed his brother's shoulders, halting his constant pacing. It was giving him a headache and he never gets headaches, unless he tries some crazy recipe which doesn't bode well for him or he eats too much icecream or he gets beaten by randori or when he gets sick or- Focus Mikey! What were you going to say? Oh yeah...

"You are not thinking straight, Dee. Just calm down first and then we'll figure this out." Donnie nodded hesitantly and Mikey smiled, proud at himself for doing a good job.

"You're right. You're right." The genius took a deep breath to slow his racing thoughts, wishing that his brothers were here. Raph never freaked out in these situations and Leo always had a plan. "I need to stop panicking and think logically."

"That's my ninja. Now, what do we need to do to get our brothers back?"

"First, we need to figure out where they are." Donnie suddenly had his thinking face on, his eyes furrowed in concentration and his hand grabbing his chin. "I can of course use their T-phones to track them down for that and then we'll formulate a rescue plan. Let's head back to the lair for now. Once there, we can devise a plan and prepare ourselves."

Saying that, the olive green turtle jumped down the fire-escape and into the alleyway below, his younger brother following after him.

Mikey was elated by the change, his own stress ebbing away from him since he believed that Donnie will come up with something now. He might not be the strategizer and leader of their team but he was practically the smartest guy on the planet.

They opened a manhole cover and jumped down, sliding it back as they disappeared. It only took them 10 minutes to cover the 30 minutes long distance to the lair, the determination for saving the other two pushing them to go faster.

Sprinting towards the lab was the first thing both turtles did when they hopped over the turnstiles. Donatello grabbed his laptop and plugged his T-phone to it, his fingers moving over the keyboard with blurring speed as he pulled up a program which pinpointed the location of all the T-phones. He suddenly froze, his face scrunching up in confusion, "What? But this isn't possible! They have to have a signal, I modified the internal antennas to recieve and emit a signal no matter what the location is, even buried underground."

Seeing that his elder brother was going in panic mode once again, Mikey carefully approached him, "Donnie, hey, relax. Maybe it's something different that is blocking their signal. Or maybe they are not in the city anymore."

"I know that possibility, Mikey. And I checked the whole globe. There's no sign of their T-phones, like they're not even on Earth anymore. I even checked their Shell-Trackers in case they might have lost the phones but still nothing."

Mikey glared at his brother in suspicion, "What are Shell-Trackers?"

Donnie blushed hard, gulping and nervously avoiding eye contact with the orange-clad turtle. "Nothing!" His voice came out more high-pitched than he expected, making him even more nervous. "Absolutely nothing, bro! It's just a silly invention which didn't work..."

Mikey's eyes narrowed even more at him.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you! I might've... kind of..."

%%%%%

"What do you want Sub-prime?" Even in this position, Leonardo somehow managed to sound threatening.

"Just to get rid of you annoying turtles, always jumping in to ruin our plans." A girl speaking in a voice which didn't belong to her while doing puppet hand gestures was weird. But it didn't faze the two turtles; they had seen enough of weird stuff as it was.

"Annoying? Have you ever looked in the mirror?"

"Indeed." The Irma-bot depicting the alien went on, ignoring Raph's insult and fluffing her hair. "I must say that the designs I stole from Rook make quite a convincing human."

The two turtles simultaneously rolled their eyes, each without knowing that the other was doing the same.

"In case you haven't noticed, Sub-prime, you only managed to catch two of us, not four." Raph said smugly, "That doesn't really work out to prevent the 'ruining of your plans'."

"Yes it does. It's all part of my Master Plan."

"Doesn't seem very Master-y to me." Raph whispered to his brother who snickered in response.

Sub-prime missed the exchange and continued talking, "With the strongest fighter and the leader in our clutches, the rest of your team will be lost and they'll crumble without you. We won't even have to worry about those two runts trying to stop us."

"What did you just call them?!" Raphael struggled hard as he yelled in rage, his eyes turning white. "You'll so regret saying those words about my brothers!"

"Oh no! I'm so scared!" Their captor exclaimed in mock terror, making the two ninjas glare daggers at him. "The other weak turtles might come to kill me."

"Donnie and Mikey are not weak, you over-sized bubblegum."

Raph snorted but agreed with the term Leo had used. It pissed the pink alien blob off and he enjoyed every second of that scowl. It was well desreved after insulting _his_ brothers.

%%%%%

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Donatello flinched, even though he was totally expecting the loud, angry yell.

"I know! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?! You drilled trackers into our shells without our knowledge!"

Alright, that sounded way worse when he put it that way.

"I didn't exactly want to! But it was necessary with our lives being so dangerous where there is 67 percent probability of someone getting captured or hurt or lost."

"You still could've asked us!"

"Would you have agreed to it?"

"No! Cuz it's all mad scientist thingie, dude!"

Donnie sighed, dragging his palm down his face. "And that is why I didn't ask."

Mikey crossed his arms in a show of anger, frowning distrustfuly at the other turtle. "Meanie Mad Scientist."

"Can we please forget about this know? We need to rescue our brothers."

Mikey stared at him for a moment before sighing. Leo and Raph were more important than his betrayed feelings over a necessary precaution.

"You're right... But don't think that I'm forgetting what you did. I'll deal with this later, mister."

The genius rolled his eyes and started his work on locating the other two, only to fail... again. His concern and feeling of uselessness caught up with him and he growled in frustration, hitting his table with enough force that some of the equipment bounced and toppled.

"WOAH DONNIE! Calm down dude!"

Donatello was immensely grateful that his younger brother had sort of restrained him with a hug; He didn't want to accidentally break any of the lab equipment. Within a few momemts, he felt his anger receding and other emotions taking it's place.

"I'm so _useless_... can't even..."

He shuddered and covered his face with his hands, trying to hold back his tears as he slumped. Mikey didn't release his hold on him but shifted his position, so he wasn't restraining Donnie anymore and was supporting him instead.

"Look, You can do this, bro. I believe in you. And I'm pretty sure that Leo and Raph believe in you too."

%%%%%

"You're underestimating them." Raph declared in avoice filled with confidence, "They are capable of far more than meets the eye. Donatello is the smartest person you'll ever find, he can- Ow! Hey!"

"We can't reveal our strengths to an enemy, Raph!" Leonardo hissed through clenched teeth after he had jabbed his elbow into Raph's carpace.

The hothead retorted with an elbow jab of his own. "Don't tell me what to do, Fearless!"

"Really? You're gonna argue with me over this now?"

"I can argue whenever I want to!"

"Reeeal mature, Raph."

"Quit chiding me, Leo. You don't have to treat me like I'm some annoying little kid! Ya always go on an' on about how..."

The rest of the words were drowned out by the leader as he tried to survey his surroundings the best he could and figure out a way to escape. Their straps would be hard to get out of since they were electronic and none of the two knew how to handle Kraang technology; that was more of Mikey's department. There was a control panel right next to the glass cage which would easily release them but that had to be done from outside. And then there was the matter of toxic gas of Dimension X, they would require the breathers.

It would be simple enough to escape if Mikey and Donnie are able to locate them. The only problem would be to keep Sub-prime oblivious about his base being infiltrated. Leo smirked as he came up with a solution for that too.

But his hotheaded brother had been blabbering for the past five minutes and he couldn't take the background noise anymore. He knew that Raph wouldn't stop talking and if that continued, he'd go crazy with just listening to the complaints so he cut his brother off mid-sentence.

"Just shut up."

"You shut up!"

"You are the one yelling!"

"Well, it's your fault!"

"How the hell is it my fault?!"

"You started it!"

"I did not!"

"Yeah, you did! You hit me first."

An exasperated groan. Well... so much for peace and quite.

"I was trying to stop you from giving away our strengths to our enemy here so he wouldn't figure out a way to defeat us."

"Stop being paranoid. They're too dumb to figure it out anyway."

An offended "Hey!" came from their captor but it was ignored as the two turtles continued to bicker.

%%%%%

After the tiny pep talk and encouragement from Mikey, the purple masked turtle had started working on the trackers. He had been typing nonstop for a while but by his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes, it was clear that he wasn't having much success.

Michelangelo bit his lip, remembering Donnie's words from a few minutes ago as he watched his brother try and fail to locate the others.

"Donnie, you said that there was no sign of their T-phones, right? Like they aren't even on Earth anymore."

"Yeah. What are you getting at?"

The youngest straightened up, glad that his brother was actually listening to him for a change. Guess desperate times really do call for deperate measures.

"Then what if the reason they can't be found on Earth is because they _aren't_ on Earth?"

Donnie's eyes lit up as he assessed the implication of those words.

"Mikey, you're a genius!"

"I knew that." He said smugly, leaning back a little. "Not everyone can be as smart as me."

Donnie ignored him and turned his attention to the laptop as he began typing again, "There is only one place they could be outside of Earth and if I connect this software with the communication orb, I might just- Yes! Got it!"

"You found their signal?!"

"Yup!"

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go! Lets go! Let's go!"

He began pulling his brother's arm as he rushed out without a second thought, dragging Donatello behind him.

"Woah woah woah, wait." Donnie quickly skidded to a stop, bringing his brother to a halt as well. "We can't just run out to get them, Mikey. They're in Dimension X."

"Oh... You mean it's the Kraang who took them?" Mikey's face fell and the worry was back in the place of his enthusiasm. "What if they are being experimented on?"

Donatello fell silent for a moment as he contemplated this possibility before he looked up at his baby brother, his expressions screaming of unbending resolve.

"We won't let that happen."

Mikey just stood there with his mouth hanging open, admiring how much Donnie looked like his eldest two brothers at the moment and he felt a wave of various repressed emotions wash over him.

Leo... Raphie... He missed them... a lot. He wanted his big brothers back- No... NEEDED them back.

It must have showed on his face because Donnie slowly approached him and wrapped his arms around the smaller turtle, engulfing him in comforting hug.

"We will get them back, Mikey. I promise."

The youngest allowed his brother's embrace and his comfortung words to chase away his doubts and fears. He hiccupped, burying his face in Donnie's plastron as he clinged to the taller turtle.

"W-What if-?"

"Shhh. It's Okay. Leo and Raph are fighters; They'll be alright."

A few moments later, Donatello sighed and released his brother who had stopped crying now.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now cheer up! We need that optimistic attitude back and I've come up with a Master Plan."

The orange-clad turtle beamed at the affectionate nudges his elder brother kept giving him.

"Thanks Dee."

"Sure thing. What are brothers for?"

"Does teasing count?"

Chuckling a little, Donnie rubbed his head one last time and went back to prepare things for the upcoming rescue mission.

Michelangelo looked around the lab for something to keep him occupied in the meantime, but at finding nothing that wouldn't involve disturbing the genius, he hopped up to sit on the metal table and took out his T-phone.

As the youngest busied himself with his game, Donatello produced two Kraang teleportation devices from somewhere and placed them on his desk. Next, he searched for Leo's tazer gun and disassembled it to take out a small contraption; or more precisely, a miniaturized EMP generator.

Tweaking with the objects he had at his disposal, he was finally able to install the generator on one of the two Kraang devices in such a way that it will be triggered immediately after the gadget is used.

That done, the genius picked up the other teleportation device, the one without the EMP generator. He fumbled with it for a while as he tried to activate the stupid thing but it was in vain.

"I don't understand."

"Hmmm."

Donnie stood up with the small metal gadget in his hand and began pacing. "This isn't working. Why the shell is it that difficult to activate it? It makes no sense!"

"Uh huh."

"This thing is impossible!"

"Yup."

"Kraang tech is so confusing sometimes; it's ridiculous, crazy and has no logic in its programing! I wish there was someone with an insane, randomly logic-less mind who would be able to-"

He suddenly paused in his rant, his eyes blowing wide as realization hit him and he slowly turned to face his younger brother.

"Mikey."

"...Yeah?"

"Can you activate this portal?"

"Sure." Mikey said distractedly, his eyes glued to the T-phone's screen where a video game was in progress.

Donnie took a deep breath and calmly approached the freckled turtle, stopping right next to him. He leaned forward and spoke, his voice sounding suspiciously low, "Then stop wasting time and DO IT!"

Mikey winced, rubbing his poor, hurting ear as he put the phone away, "Alright, alright. You don't need to shout or anything."

He jumped down from the table and snatched the poratable device from Donatello, randomly pressing a few buttons before he tossed the object in the air.

It floated and a pink triangle formed from it. Donnie could only blink at it with wide eyes before he snapped out of his daze, attaching his breather and grabbing the other portable portal.

"Let's go save our brothers."

"Oh yeah boi!" Miley threw down a smoke bomb and his brother coughed, waving one hand in front of him to keep away the fumes of purple cloud. When the smoke cleared, an excited Mikey appeared in his wild, Dimension X attire.

"Savage Mikey of Dimension X ready to go!"

Donnie rolled his eyes and grabbed Michelangelo's arm, pulling him along as he hastened towards the floating triangle. "Now, C'mon. Every second we waste here is another hour passed in that dimension."

The two brothers jumped through the portal and it disappeared behind them, the small Kraang device which had projected it clattering to the lab's floor.

%%%%%

"But carbonated drinks can weaken your immune system!"

"Says who?!"

"Says me and Donnie and Sensei and April and-

"OK, I get the idea. But still! Tea is disgusting!"

"It's not disgusting, Raphael. It's refreshing!"

"Why the hell do you like it so much anyway?"

"Because I just do!"

"That ain't an answer, Leo!"

"Exactly how many reasons do you want to hear?"

Leonardo and Raphael kept bickering, completely disregarding the fact that they were captured and suspended upside-down in the middle of a glass tube by their enemy.

No, that wasn't even important to them. The important thing, apparently, was to decide which drink is better.

"I still think that beverage taste waaaaay better than tea! And it's refreshing too."

"It's not good for health, Raph! Do I have to beat it into you thick skull?"

"This thick skull is more useful than your stupid tea, Leo! At least I can headbut with it!"

"How the hell does headbut sound good if it only ends up giving you a concussion?"

"Like ya said: Thick Skull. That means no concussion."

"It doesn't work that way! Ughhh. You're impossible..."

"Thanks!"

"Wasn't a compliment."

"Taking it as one anyway."

"Of course. That's what I should have expected from you, considering the hotheaded, irrational, impulsive brain you've got."

"Well, your brain is so stupid that it can't think of a way to get out!"

"Would you Shhh? I got a plan for that."

"Oh, really? Then please enlighten us with your Master Plan."

"Would you stop doing that?"

"No."

Leo sighed in resignation before he turned his head around as much as he could and whispered his plan to his brother. Raph's eyes widened slightly and there was a flicker of eagerness in his eyes for a moment before he quickly masked it, narrowing them in a glare.

"No. Just no. Worst idea you ever had, Leo."

"Isn't that your opinion to my every single idea? I bet you'll agree to Mikey's plans instead."

"Sure I will. Since yours suck!"

"You got any better idea?!"

"Yes! Get your foot away from mine!"

"Ow! Stop kicking me!"

"Stop digging your elbow into my side!"

"You are the one squirming around!"

"Like you aren't!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are!"

"You got any proof for that?!"

"The proof is that I'm stuck here with you!"

"It's no picnic for me either!"

_One hour later_

"Idiot!"

"Jerk!"

"Kill-joy!"

"Lamebrain!"

"Moron!"

On the other side of the room, Kraang Sub-prime was getting increasingly frustrated by the constant noise.

"Kraang asks kraang what the one known as turtle is saying to the one known as turtle and the one known as turtle is saying back to the one known as turtle? Does Kraang know the meaning of the words that the ones known as turtles are saying?"

"Kraang does not know what the one known as turtle and the one known as turtle are saying. Kraang refuses to acknowledge the meaning of those which Kraang wishes to call words."

And the speech of those two Kraang-droids(who were supposed to be guarding the door) wasn't helping matters either. Finally having reached his limit,the agitated alien snapped.

"SHUT UP!"

His loud outburst had halted the brothers' bickering and Sub-prime stomped towards their cage with irritation and rage. "You keep squabbling like toddlers; Bla bla bla _this_, bla bla bla _that__!_ It's giving me a headache!"

"Uh... No offense but, you're a talking brain. How in the world do you get headaches? You're everything aches?"

Sub-prime gave him a flat look before throwing up his tentacles, "That's it! I'm done! Should've gotten rid of you morons a long time ago."

He pushed a few controls on the elliptical console next to their glass cylinder and the floor of their prison opened up from the middle, the semi-circular panels sliding to the sides to reveal huge arrays of sharp buzzsaws rotating at a very high speed.

The metallic rope which attached them to the roof started to elongate, slowly lowering both brothers towards the floor.

"That can't be good."

"Ya think?"

%%%%%

"Dammit." Donatello hit the side of his T-phone in an attempt to make the cross-dimensional tracker work, only to receive a static noise. "The signals are being blocked again."

"Don't worry, bro. I got this."

The genius raised an eyeridge at his brother but Mikey already had one hand near his forehead, wiggling his fingers as he imitated the sounds of a radar. He was slowly twisting around while doing so before he suddenly paused.

"Uh-oh."

"What?" The younger turtle ignored him and lept up on a high vantage point, doing the same action he did just a few seconds ago. He then looked down at his brother, worry written all over his face.

"Mikey, what is it?"

Mikey jumped back down, the despair in his eyes highly contrasting the confident persona he had when they came here. It made Donnie worry.

"I can't track them through my organic antenna."

That one sentence made Donnie's blood run ice cold and he gazed across the vast, never-ending, pink space; knowing that their brothers are held in this dimension but not having a clue as to where.

"What do we do now?"

**_To be continued..._**


	17. To the Rescue

**A/n: I divided it into two parts just for the sake of leaving a cliffhanger and I wrote this part while listening to "Shell Shocked". I really love that song for some reason.**

**Part 2 of Master Plan.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles.**

%%%%%

**To the Rescue**

A bunch of Kraang-droids were patrolling around the island as they held their laser guns, walking the perimeter, taking a look at the surrounding area before moving to another spot and repeating the cycle.

A small shuffling noise caught the attention of one of those Kraang and it went closer to investigate. At seeing nothing out of the ordinary, it turned away and was beginning to move towards another side when the noise came again, halting the sentry. It paused in its steps and checked again, coming around a jutted formation.

Only the view of vast pink space greeted the alien. It looked left and then right before the sound of a chain drew its attention and the Kraang turned its gaze upwards. An orange masked turtle holding a nunchuck was the last thing it saw before it was jumped by the young ninja, who knocked it out before the alien could alert the rest of the group.

"Yes! Like a turtle do!" The youngest celebrated his victory with dance moves and turned his gaze towards a dark corner. "See Donnie? Didn't I tell you we'll find some on the Grappling-bug Isle?"

Donatello appeared beside them from the shadowy corner and used his naginata blade to remove the metallic legs, tying the Kraang up so it wouldn't fall out of the external robotic body.

"Grappling-bug Isle?"

"Yeah! Cuz you know, it's an island having lots of these little guys." Mikey gestured widely at the collection of a foot long worms scattered across the whole place, the image making Donnie shudder in disgust.

"I hate to say it, but we might need one of those later. These ropes are weak and won't hold the Kraang for much longer."

"Don't worry, bro. Savage Mikey has got you covered." Saying that, he picked a couple more worms and stored them in his belt.

The purple masked ninja ignored him and hoisted the droid up on his shell before he turned towards his younger brother.

"Mikey, do you know any place around here which is indoors and dark?"

"Yeah. About three island hops from here. Why?"

Donnie only gave a devious smirk in response.

%%%%%

No. Freaking. Way.

Kraang Sub-prime watched with baffled eyes as the soon-to-be-sawed-alive turtles argued non stop. He thought they would get scared enough that they're about to die and quit squabbling but Lo and Behold!

They didn't.

The only thing he could discern from their unusual reaction was that they were either very brave or very stupid, his imaginary meter's needle leaning more towards the stupid side.

Raph was in a clearer viewing position for watching Sub-prime than Leo was, so the blue-masked turtle leaned his head closer to Raphael while the hothead was letting out another string of insults adressed towards his elder brother.

"Is it working?" Leo whispered to his brother, his action going unnoticed by their captors due to Raph's loud yells.

The red-masked ninja took a subtle look at the Kraang, noting Sub-prime's confused/shocked expression and all of the aliens' attention focused on him and Leo instead of the controls and monitor screens which were showing live footage from security cameras.

"It's working." He confirmed in a low voice before Leo lightly nodded and started yelling to respond to his previous insults, resuming their half planned/half improvised argument.

%%%%%

Donnie and Mikey watched from the shadows as the alien they had caught gained consciousness.

It attempted to get up and move once it completely came to but was unable to perform such a simple task. That's when the Kraang finally noticed that it was in a very dark place, with the only source of light pointing its way and the limbs of the exoskeleton ripped off. Realizing that trying to make the body work was futile, the Kraang tried to get out of it instead, but there was something long and sticky which bounded him inside the robotic body, securing it in its place.

Mikey felt sorry for the Kraang for tying it up with grappling-bug's tongue like this but he pushed that thought away. They needed info on their brothers' whereabouts and this was the fastest way to do so.

The pink brain struggled once again as it shrieked in agitation, remembering the last time it had been in the exact same prediction.

Why was it always Kraang? First, it was the one called Shredder who kept Kraang as that which is known as hostage for questioning and for the time known as now, it was again Kraang who was held hostage. Can't the ones who call themselves the interrogators decide to take Kraang instead?

The Kraang's struggling and self-pitying thoughts were put to a halt as it was suddenly confronted by two scary and dangerous looking, white-eyed mutants.

"Alright Kraang." Mikey spoke up in a deep voice, his Savage Mikey attire and pupil-less eyes making him seem all the more threatening. "Where have you squishy brains taken the two turtle mutants you captured?"

With another agitated shriek, the alien settled down and closed its eyes, focusing on controlling the robotic body it was locked inside.

The head of the Kraang-droid lit up.

"Kraang refuses to inform you about the location of the place known as the place of holding of those who are called turtles mutants that Kraang captured. Kraang will not tell the ones known as turtles the place of holding of those you wish to call turtle mutants."

"Huh." Donnie mumbled in a mixture of puzzlement and surprise, "Never thought they would be resolute about something."

"I know, right? Did not see that one coming. Especially from a _Kraang_."

The purple-masked ninja shook his head, "We gotta try something else to get the answers."

A sly grin spread across Michelangelo's white-eyed face, making him look quite creepy in the dark area. But the face didn't scare his elder brother like it would anyone else, instead making him suspicious.

"Uh Mikey? What do you have in mind?"

Mikey's creepy grinning face slowly turned to face Donnie, his expressions frozen on it like an immovable mask of ventriloquist puppet. "Good Cop. Bad Cop."

The Earth genius was unfazed by the theatrics of the Dimension X genius, ignoring them entirely. "Worth a try." He replied with a small shrug, "But I'm the bad cop this time."

"No way, Donnie. You were a bad cop the last time!" Mikey exclaimed in a childish manner, his creepy act forgotten.

"It was Raph! Not me, you dimwit."

"Oh... The room was very dark and I couldn't see who was speaking so I thought that it must have been you; The voice sounded scary."

"Yeah right. I don't sound that scary."

"Dude, have you even heard yourself when your'e angry?"

"My voice is not scary."

"You're worse than Raph."

Donatello rolled his eyes with a sigh, turning away from the stand off with his younger brother, "Can we take this conversation some other time? Seriously, the interrogation?" He gestured with both arms at the bound up Kraang who had been watching them silently all along, confusion written all over its brainy features.

The two brothers blinked at the alien before sharing a wide-eyed look, seemingly just then remembering that they had been bickering like 4-year-olds(or more precisely, like Leo and Raph) in front of their potential source of information. But it looked like the Kraang didn't have a clue about the meaning of their brief exchange so they took a moment to forget about it.

After a full minute of awkward silence, Mikey slowly traced his toe across the floor and turned to face his brother.

"Soooo... Whose gonna be the bad cop?"

There was a very short pause before-

"ME!" The two turtles yelled at once and growled at each other, standing nose to nose before the taller one stepped away a little.

"This isn't working."

"Agreed."

"Our situation requires a brief and fair competition to decide the bad cop."

"I am NOT playing that super knowledge-y quiz of yours so forget it." Mikey declared while accusingly poking his brother's plastron.

"Fine." Donnie swiped the finger away, "We settle this with 'Rock Paper Scissors' then."

"You're on!"

Their game ended quickly, with Donatello being the victor as he had chosen a paper while Michelangelo chose a rock.

"Aw man," Mikey whined as he wilted in disappointment, "I really wanted to be the bad cop."

"Don't worry, Mikey." Donnie said with a sympathetic pat on his younger brother's shoulder. "We _might_ let you be that the next time. And besides, being a good cop suits you more anyway."

Mikey let out a tiny whimper at those words before he was suddenly shoved from behind, making him stumble a little.

"Now go get 'em, tiger."

With a sour look pointed at his smug brother, the orange-clad turtle turned towards the alien and skipped on top of the rock slab next to it.

"Hi dude! How you doing?" He sat on the rock with crossed legs while giving off a friendly vibe.

The Kraang didn't move or talk, remaining still with no indication of emotion whatsoever.

"Riiight... So uhh, listen; Have you seen my brothers? Y'know, two dudes, taller than me, red and blue masks, mutant turtles."

"Kraang refuses to acknowledge about those you wish to call brothers."

Mikey looked over his shoulder at Donnie, the flat expression on his face forcing the other turtle to cough into his fist so he wouldn't crack up into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"You can take over anytime now."

"Nah. You're doing great!"

With a sigh, Michelangelo turned back to ask about Leo and Raph again, only to fail. This continued for quite a while, with Donnie enjoying the show as he watched from the shadows.

After nearly fifteen minutes of watching the amusingly unsuccessful attempts, he finally decided to spare his brother when he saw that Mikey was on the verge of losing his temper. He walked out of the darkness, his nictitating membrane sliding over to give a threatening image.

The Kraang's attention was drawn away from a friendly Mikey towards a dangerous Donnie and it flinched back a little.

Don stopped next to his younger brother and Mikey immediately hopped up, "FINALLY! Dude, you really are evil."

"And you are usually not this unsuccessful when we interrogate. In fact, our enemies always rattle everything out after they deal with you."

Mikey gave him a flat look for the second time that day, "Kraang are apparently immune to my annoying-ness."

Donnie chuckled a little before straightening, "Now step back and watch a _real_ interrogator in action."

"Thanks Donnie!" The purple masked ninja was suddenly pushed from behind much like Mikey was, "It's all yours!"

He caught himself before he could face-plant on the floor and sent a glare at Mikey's grinning face. With an annoyed sigh, he turned back to face the Kraang-droid who cowered under his intense gaze.

"I'm only gonna ask this one time." He grabbed the droid and pulled it closer so they were face to face, "Where are my brothers?!"

"Kraang refuses to tell the location of those you wish to call brothers."

Donatello harshly shoved it back before he produced a cylinder-shaped gadget from his belt and showed it to the alien, lowly whispering something as he circled the alien.

Mikey couldn't understand what his brother was saying as he slowly twisted the weird-looking thingamajig inbetween his fingers, bringing the unknown object closer to the droid's face.

It tried to lean away as much as was possible in its bound up condition, the eyes transfixed on the piece of technology. Mikey wondered for a moment what it was but quickly wiped that thought away, deciding then and there that if the Kraang was scared of it so much then he didn't want to know.

When Kraang didn't give away a single clue and remained silent, Donnie pressed an invisible button on the gadget, narrowing his white eyes even more. The tiny thing lit up with beeping sounds and hums and was brought closer to their hostage.

"Stop! K-Kraang agrees t-t-to give the location of those who a-are known as t-the turtles!" The droid stuttered out with static noises.

"Talk."

Mikey watched in amazement as the Kraang rattled out everything it knew about the location of the eldest two, stuttering out not only where or how they were being held but also the layout of their base, including the number of Kraang-droids present there.

A wooden staff hit the alien's face after it finished talking, knocking it unconscious while Mikey stood frozen on the spot, his jaw dropped in awe.

The youngest snapped out of his daze when Donnie sheathed his bo-staff. He looked down and saw an unconscious Kraang before he slumped in disappointment, "Aww, I wanted to have some fun too."

Donnie rolled his eyes and moved outside with Mikey following after him. "You can keep having your fun when we go and rescue the others. You know where that headquarter is, right?"

"Yup. Follow me." He jumped across an island, in the direction opposite to the recently named 'Grappling-bug Isle'.

As Michelangelo led the way to the Kraang base where his brothers were being held, he suddenly recalled what Don had said before he was asked about the location.

"Hey Donnie, what will we be doing there that involves having fun?"

%%%%%

"Keep your beaks shut!"

Kraang Sub-prime banged on the glass again as he yelled this, in an effort to achieve some silence. It was to no avail and he groaned, oblivious to the fact that an extra two turtles had already infiltrated his current base and deactivated all the alarms, silently incapacitating a whole army of kraang-droids stationed at the hallways and leaving sparking exoskeletons within their wake.

All the while he had his attention fixed on his prisoners. Gosh! they were worse than his own minions.

He sighed and began to stare at them silently, waiting for the rope to elongate further and further. His excitement grew once it extended even more and when Raph's mask tails were swaying just an inch above the buzzsaws, the two turtles suddenly pulled their heads into their shells, preventing them from getting cut.

"What?! C'mon!"

As Sub-prime started pacing with irritation, the far wall swished to the side and a Kraang-droid marched in. For the reason that was beyond him, this one was wearing the human disguise like the Kraang on Earth.

"And what do you want?"

"Kraang wishes to inform the one known as Kraang Sub-prime that..."

On second thought, maybe those two turtles weren't really worse than his minions.

While Kraang Sub-prime was distracted, two swift and silent blurs swept inside and disappeared on the roof. One landed behind the kraang-droids and the other landed behind Sub-prime. The alien was too occupied with listening to a mind-controlled Kraang to notice.

"- to that which Kraang Sub-prime wishes to call the rest of you." Saying that, it left and the wall swished close again. Subprime sighed and turned around, only to freeze as he came face to face with the youngest turtle.

"You?! How did you get in here?"

"Like a ninja, obviously."

"Well, it doesn't matter." The alien grinned and pressed one of the buttons on the console in front of him, "You will never be able to save your brothers when you are too busy fighting us."

Mikey paused, looked around the place with a bored expression before turning back to Sub-prime and gave him a questioning look. The pink alien only got confused and pressed the button again.

Nothing happened.

He growled and punched the button over and over, gaining a crazy look in his eyes, much to Michelangelo's amusement.

"Maybe you should stop with that. It's not nice to break your toys."

"What. Did. You. Do?!"

Mikey grinned as he absent-mindedly spun his nunchuck, "Oh nothing." He answered casually with a tiny shrug, "Just took out your whole army when our big bros kept you distracted with their arguments."

A rage similar to that of an out-of-control-Leatherhead appeared on Sub-prime's face and he activated almost all of the weapons hidden in his Irma-bot in a matter of seconds, realeasing a barrage of lasers at the orange-clad ninja who skillfully dodged them.

"Ah ah ah. You shouldn't shoot at your guests." Mikey chided as he flipped over him, taking down the guns with his nunchucks in the process. "Didn't you learn any manners while being on Earth for so many years? I thought you were smarter than the regular Kraang. Or maybe you're not."

That did it. Sub-prime turned around to face Mikey with the look of a feral predator and held up one hand. The metal fingers moved apart to reveal a huge, crystal saw and Sub-prime shoved it towards the youngest without any warning.

Mikey's eyes widened for a split second before he squeezed them shut and held out his hands, "WAIT!"

Sub-prime paused and pulled his arm back, glaring irritatedly at the orange-clad turtle.

"What?!"

Mikey opened one eye and pointed a hesitant finger at the buzzsaw rotating between Irma-bot's fingers, "Is that thing made of energy crystal?"

"Yes." He snapped at the annoying mutant who had interrupted his attack just to ask a stupid question and moved to swing again, but startled to a stop when Michelangelo suddenly let out a very shrill, high-pitched noise.

After the shrieks died down, the alien stared at his opponent in confusion, who only gave a wicked smirk in return. Next thing he knew, the magenta coloured saw rotating in-between the fingers exploded, knocking him off balance and setting the whole arm sparking, which, in return, started a chain reaction setting the whole exosuit sparking.

As the body fell back and began to twitch, Mikey left it and hurried beside the control panel, pushing the buttons on it as fast as he could. He was able to stop the buzzsaws and slide the floor over them in just the nick of time, as they were mere centimetres away from his brothers' shells.

On the far side of the chamber, Sub-prime had managed to hop out of his malfunctioning exoskeleton and was going to jump the orange-clad turtle when out of nowhere, a bo-staff slammed into his face, sending him flying on top of the metal bodies of defeated Kraang-droids.

"Mikey, you okay?"

Mikey twisted about to see Donnie restraining the pink alien brain with a rope and gave him a thumbs up, "Ofcourse bro! Not a scratch."

He turned back and released Leo and Raph from their tight straps. They fell on the metal floor, the impact with a solid surface instead of being sawed forcing them to pop their heads out of their shells with small groans.

Raph slowly sat up and grabbed his head, blinking as he tried to focus on a single point. He felt movement next to him and turned his blurry gaze towards Leo, who was trying and failing to sit up because of the dizziness. Raphael assisted his brother in getting upright as the blue-masked turtle swayed.

"R-Raph?" Leo blinked, rubbed his eyes and blinked again, "Whyra there thlee of ye?" His speech slurred as his eyes slid shut and he sagged against his hotheaded brother.

"Woah, Leo. Stay awake, bro."

Raph supported his weight with one arm and slid the other behind his brother's shell, jostling him just slightly as he tried to keep Leonardo awake.

"Look Leo, your plan worked. They were able to come save us and the Kraang didn't even know."

"They... okay?"

Raph snorted; figures that his motherhen of a brother would be worried about the others more. He quickly steadied himself as a dizzy spell hit him too.

"Guys!"

They looked up to see their purple-masked brother peering in worriedly as he held a couple of breathing units in his hands while Michelangelo worked on opening the cage.

"Hold your breath, you two!" Mikey yelled as he punched one last button and the trapped turtles did as told. There was a tiny beep and the glass was pulled inside the base of their cage, immediately setting the eldest two free. Donnie hurried beside them, kneeling down and giving them each a breathing unit.

"You did it." Leo smiled as soon as he was able to breath properly again. He was responded by being pulled in a sudden group hug from their younger brothers.

"Never scare us like that ever again, you jerks."

Raph breathed out a laugh as he hugged them back alongwith Leo and their holds on each other tightened.

"Missed you too, Braniac."

They stayed that way for a while, reveling in the familiar presence of each other before Donnie noticed that his elder brothers looked weak and tired. Realization hit him that they must have been severely dehydrated, what with the amount of time they spent here without any food or water. Dimension X has different time period relative to that of Earth.

He released his hold on them and pulled away, smiling at them with a mixture of various emotions. Joy, worry, concern and relief being the strongest.

"Let's go home."

"Right." Donnie took out the second portal and presented it to his younger brother, "Michelangelo,will you do the honours?"

"It would be my pleasure, Donatello."

He took the device Donnie handed him and easily activated the portal. Once it had projected the triangle, the younger two assisted their brothers in standing up and the boys made their way to the gateway which led back to Earth.

Raph's gaze swept across the chamber and his eyes seeked the alien whose master plan had utterly failed. He sent the bound up Sub-prime a week grin as he saw the baffled look on the alien's face.

"Told you that you were underestimating them."

He managed to croak out before he, along with his brothers, walked through the portal and it disappeared behind them.

Then the device exploded, sending out the EMPs which turned off every piece of technology within a mile's radius, power outaging the whole base and leaving Sub-prime and the rest of the Kraang in the dark with only a few mutagen canisters offering some light like giant glow sticks.

In one of the dark hallways, a human disguised Kraang-droid twitched for a second before it blinked, as if it had just woken up from a weird dream. It pulled its clothes aside to reveal a deactivated mind-control device planted on the brain and took it out with a sour emotion, recalling that a purple masked turtle had planted it there and then the orange masked one had kept giving out orders for fun which were obeyed by the Kraang.

%%%%%

A pink triangle appeared in Donatello's lab, several feet in the air and 4 turtles dropped out of it, falling on the ground in a pile. They were pulling themselves out of the tangle of limbs and sitting up when Mikey felt a heavy wait settle over his legs and he moved his gaze downward.

"Uh, dudes?"

They all looked down and saw that their eldest brother was nodding off again.

"Is he okay? Raph was caught too but he isn't as exhausted as Leo is." Mikey stated with concern, eyes never leaving his eldest brother.

"He'll be fine. He did have that extra training with Master Splinter before we left for our evening patrol, remember?" Raph and Mikey breathed a sigh of relief when they've heard Dr. Donnie give the OK. The hothead turned his attention towards Leonardo and shook his brother to rouse him.

"Leo. Wake up."

"...tired."

"You can take a nap after getting in bed, Fearless. Now C'mon."

Letting out a small grown, the blue-banded turtle picked himself up with some effort and Mikey assisted him to one of the two cots that were placed next to each other.

He released a sigh as he was finally laid down on the cot next to his hotheaded brother and closed his eyes. Donnie saw the lines on his brother's face smoothing out and grabbed Leo's shoulder, shaking him to prevent the leader from losing consciousness.

"Hey! Stay awake."

"But Raph said that I could-"

"No, you can't. Not yet." The blue-masked ninja grumbled under his breath and sat up, trying to keep himself alert by staying upright but not realizing that it would tire him out even more.

Donatello pushed him back and worked on inserting the needle of an I.V line into his wrist, taking a bit longer than usual because he kept checking for injuries here and there to make sure his big brother was alright. Satisfied with his inspection, he turned back to his original task.

Leonardo let out a yawn as his younger brother was finally finished with treating him and had moved next to Raphael's cot. "Now can I sleep?"

"Not before you eat something, you don't."

"Awww."

Raph chuckled at seeing the childish expression on his elder brother's face, "You're acting like Space Heroes got delayed or something."

"Shut up, Raph. It's a great show."

Attaching Raph's I.V as he listened to the familiar bickering he feared he wouldn't hear again, Donnie stood up and pushed Leonardo back once more, who wouldn't quit sitting up unless he was thinking about sleeping.

"Leo, Lie Down! I'll bring you two something to eat. And Mikey, can you make sure he stays awake and doesn't get out of bed?"

"You can count on me, bro."

"Thanks."

As the purple-masked turtle left the lab, Mikey walked to stand in front of the cots and theatrically cleared his throat, drawing his brothers' attention, "Now that you have been rescued and everything will be alright, I, Michelangelo, would like to inform you two about the breach of trust, the huge betrayal we all have unknowingly suffered by the hands of our scientist brother."

Confused as to where this was going, Leo and Raph shared a look and turned back to the youngest.

"What are you talking about, Knucklehead?"

"This will be hard for you to take in, dear brother Raphael. But it had been recently discovered by me that Donnie had- "

The mentioned ninja was suddenly behind him, covering his mouth and chuckling nervously, "Well, you see guys, Mikey here was just trying to rile us all up with one of his new imagined scenarios. Right Mikey?" He added with a threatening tone and a death glare pointed towards the youngest.

Mikey recognized the threat and gulped as he gave a reluctant nod.

"I sure hope you don't disturb our exhausted brothers with your annoying tales, Michelangelo. _Or else..._" Donnie left the whispred threat hang in the air and left his lab.

Silence fell across the chamber and when Mikey was entirely sure that his brother was in the kitchen and wouldn't be able to hear him anymore, he once again turned back to the other two and started speaking.

"Prepare to be shocked brothers, by hearing what exactly happened a few months ago when Donnie didn't join us on our movie night..."

He would later regret ignoring Donatello's threats but it will totally be worth it.

And besides, it will keep Leo awake.

%%%%%

**A/n: Knock Knock, A-team's about to get Shell Shocked!**

**Oops... got carried away. :D**

**Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review so I can know your opinion.**


	18. Guilty

**Guilty**

Hamato Yoshi was mad.

No, not mad. _Pissed_.

He glared down at the two guilty suspects who stood in front of him with their heads bowed.

"Which one of you did it?"

None of the two brothers spoke, standing frozen on the spot.

"Michelangelo! Raphael!"

The six year olds flinched, hearing the sterness increase in their father's voice.

"Tell me who did it!"

Slowly, the younger one reached over and gave his brother's shoulder a sympathetic pat before dropping his arm.

Raph remained silent on the outside, exploding with rage on the inside at his brother's crafty scheme.

Splinter sighed and turned around, heading towards the dojo.

"Come, Raphael." He called out, pausing for only a moment before he continued walking.

As Raph obediently moved to follow his father, he looked over his shoulder and glared at Michelangelo when their eyes met, the seething rage and a promise of huge amount of pain clear in the red-clad turtle's eyes.

Mikey gave a half-smug/half-sheepish grin, now unsure about his previous move for getting Raph in trouble.


	19. Not Playing Fair

**A/n: This is based on a fanart called 'Not Playing Fair' by 'fireworksinthenight'. Was originally posted on Deviantart** **but I decided to post it here too.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer : I don't own anything.**

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**Not Playing Fair**

"Hey Leo, look what I found!"

The blue-masked ninja turned to see what Mikey wanted to show him, only to freeze at the sight of a tiny black kitten his baby brother was holding up. He stared at the filthy little furball with wide, incredulous eyes.

"Mikey! You can't just bring a stray animal to the lair!"

It seemed that the youngest didn't ever hear him, instead giving him a bright smile as he showed the sweet little feline to his brother.

"She's so adorable, isn't she? Can we keep her?!"

He gave his eldest brother a big, hopeful smile as he said that. Afterall, who would want to deny a home to a poor, lonely kitty?

Leonardo's opinion though, was the exact opposite of Michelangelo's. He crossed his arms, sending the orange-clad turtle a stern look.

"NO."

The leader's voice indicated the finality of his decision. This was his no-more-arguments-because-I-have-made-my-decision-and-you-can't-say-or-do-anything-to-change-my-mind voice. It was the same voice he had used when he was planning on rupturing the powercell to destroy the whole TCRI or when he was urging the others to leave as he held back Kraang-Prime or when he lured the Kraang bots away so Donnie, Mikey and April would escape or when he tried to take down the Triceraton mothership with a-

Alright, so he used it whenever he planned to pull a crazy, life-threatening stunt. The point is, whenever Leo uses this voice, it means finality of his words and no matter how much the others try to talk him out of it, it never works.

There was only one thing left for Mikey to do; pulling out the big guns, aka The Fearless Leader's greatest weakness.

Mikey's face contorted, his expressions morphing from hopeful to sorrowful and despairing. He trembled a little, giving the eldest his famous puppy-eyes and sniffing to add to the effect, a sad frown replacing the beaming smile.

The leader hesitated, uncrossing his arms and moving to reach out to the youngest, wanting desperately to soothe Mikey. A whimpered escaped the orange-masked turtle, further adding to Leo's desperation.

He had to comfort Michelangelo.

_'No.'_

He made Mikey upset.

_'No._ _Snap out of it.'_

He hurt his baby brother. How could he do this to him?

_'C'mon Leonardo, he is manipulating you. Stop it!'_

He was a terrible big brother.

_'__Don't cave in! You have to be stronger.'_

Tears had collected in Mikey's sad baby blue orbs, threatening to fall. They were a perfect mixture of cuteness and rejectful sadness.

_'Get a hold of yourself, Leo! You must resist!'_

Those teary eyes, those heart-broken whimpers, that sad frown... combining together to give a perfect impression of a kicked out puppy who is sad and alone and shunned, having no place to go and has to wander around in the cold, cold rain, without a shelter.

Leonardo sighed, giving in to the manipulation skills of his younger brother. "Alright Mikey. You... can keep her." His voice was low when he said this, holding his head with one hand. He could practically feel Raph's amused grin as the red-masked turtle watched the whole thing, hiding behind a corner.

"Awww, did you hear that little kitty? Leo said we can keep you. We will have so much fun together! I'll show you around the whole lair and we will play games and I'll teach you many tricks and you will meet Ice Cream Kitty and become best friends and..."

Leonardo closed his eyes and tried to block out all of the plans Mikey was already coming up with. He dreaded what they would have to endure at an actual cat's arrival... like hairballs.

This wasn't fair! Why did Mikey keep using his baby-bro powers on him? They all knew he could never resist those puppy-eyes, they were his weakness and Mikey always used that to his adventage.

The orange-masked turtle was Not. Playing. Fair.

"Uhh... L-Leo?" Donnie's shy and hesitant voice floated down from around the other corner, halting his train of thoughts, "Did you say we can keep a stray animal?"

This inquiry was followed by a loud trumpet which sounded a lot like that of an elephant.

Leonardo's head snapped up at the noise, his eyes blown wide.

_'__Oh for mutagen's sake!'_

%%%%%

Meanwhile, Raphael couldn't stop snickering from behind his hiding spot as he watched the whole scene taking place.

Donnie was trying to stop the baby elephant from pulling out his staff while looking expectantly at the eldest with reddened cheeks.

Raph prayed for poor Leonardo who would have to deal with Donnie too. Maybe he should have told his elder brother that a handful of animals broke out of the zoo that night, which included the infamous lion too.

_Poor Big bro..._

%%%%%

**A/n: Madagascar reference? What Madagascar reference? I didn't use it! Nope! Totally did not! ...maybe?**

**Don't worry! Leo wouldn't have to deal with the rest because they were transported to Africa. But Dumbo's friend here was pretty stealthy so he escaped the watchful eyes of most cops and hid in an alley instead of waltzing into Central Park Station.**

**Luckily, he was found by Donatello who somehow, magically brought him to the lair.**


	20. Intuition

**A/n: Had to keep the rating at K so it's not described too much. The turtles are 10 years old in this one.**

**Warning: Dark and angsty.**

**Requested by 'Only Hope No Fear'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles and Splinter.**

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**Intuition**

"NO!"

The young turtle shot up, his own voice reverberating back several times before the echoes faded into ringing silence.

His green eyes were wide with terror and cold sweat was running down his face while his fingers digged into his arms.

He breathed hard as his gaze inspected the surrounding area and his mind finally began to register that he was in his room, not that horrifying place where everything turns red, where greens fade to greys.

Raph shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to forget the horrible images that shoved their way into the front of his mind, the remnants of his nightmare triggering his memory, reminding him of the rest of the dark dream which he had barely begun to forget.

"No. I'm sorry." He clutched his head as his heartbeat pounded in his ears, "I didn't mean to..." He murmured lowly, trying to push those images away when suddenly, the sound of footsteps rushing towards his room was heard.

Raphael's head snapped up at the noise, watching warily as the knob was turned and the door of his room was pushed open, his brother's head peeking in.

"Raph? You okay? I felt-" The blue-masked turtle took one look at the terror-filled orbs and froze, his concerned expression intensifying even more.

"Raph?"

Leo proceeded with stepping inside the room and shut the door behind him, approaching the huddled form of his younger brother. Raph flinched and immediately scrambled back, pulling his knees upto his chest and wrapping his arms around them. His shell hit the headboard, halting him from backing away any further.

"S-Stay away from me!"

Leo's steps faltered for a moment before he took a breath and continued again, walking next to him with his gaze fixed on the scared turtle, his expressions soft, concerned and trustful.

He took a seat beside the red-clad ninja, gently grabbing his brother's shoulder.

"Raph?"

"N-No. Please." Raph shook his head, trying to brush Leo's hand away while still not meeting his gaze, "I don' wanna hurt you."

"You won't." Leo whispered as he took hold of both his shoulders, "Now look at me."

Another shudder ran through Raphael and his only response was to tighten his arms and hide his face into his knees. Leonardo bit his lip, deciding to change the tactics.

"C'mon, Raphie. Please?" The elder turtle pleaded, using the nickname that his brother loved so much but never wanted to admit it.

It worked and Raph slowly gazed up at his best friend, his whole body trembling and his breathing uneven and ragged.

"Was it a nightmare?"

A small nod.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Leo asked softly, knowing that it _must_ have been terrible to freak his brother out so much. The second eldest usually didn't get nightmares but when he did, they had a tendency to end up being extremely horrifying. Judging by Raphael's reaction, it seemed that this one was the worst one yet, as he had never seen his brother so shaken up before.

"I... I don't know... I want to forget it."

Leo put his arm around the other turtle's shoulders, pulling him close, "Then think about other things, okay? Distract your thoughts." Raph leaned against him, following the suggestion as both brothers fell into silence.

As the silence stretched on, Leonardo's thoughts drifted to a few years back, to the night Raph's phobia of bugs was developed. He was there when it happened, when his brother tripped and fell into the garbage polluting a closed tunnel.

He remembered vividly the paralysing terror which took over his immediately younger brother and the hoard of insects that crawled over the tot's small body.

The roaches. The bugs. There had been so many of them that the sewer floor appeared to be moving, an illusion caused due to their enormous amount. He remembered his brother's terrified screams, which had panicked even _him_.

After that night, for many others that followed, Raph's dreams had been plagued by the flashbacks of that moment, twisting into something much more gruesome than the actual event. Leo remembered the various times when they all woke up in the middle of the night by the sound of his yells, comforting him till he was calm once again.

But _this_? This seemed to be far worse than those entomophobic nightmares and the eldest turtle wondered what his brother could have seen that put him in such a state.

"I killed you."

The whispered words caught Leo off guard and he stared dumbfoundedly at Raph, who had stopped shaking and was staring into space, his thoughts taking him miles away.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm trying so hard to forget them but they just won't go away." Raphael didn't seem to hear him, his eyes glazed over, "Make them go away, Leo! Please."

"Hey hey, it's okay. Just tell me what you saw."

"I-I..." Raph shut his eyes and gulped, unable to bring himself to say the next few words. Leo squeezed his shoulder in encouragement.

"We were sparring." Raph started with a tremble in his usually tough voice, "One of those lessons where it's free for all, y'know."

"Yeah... Then what happened?"

"One minute we were competing to win when one of you guys tripped me from behind. I fell, lost the match and was attacking you in the next minute as rage took over me."

Leo lowered his head, turning his gaze downwards and frowning in thought as he kept listening to his brother's story.

"I couldn't accept that I lost. I was so angry and everything became red and- and- " He couldn't continue anymore. It was just too much for the young turtle and a sob escaped him.

"I'm a freakin' Monster!"

He yelled out in a mixture of anger and gulit, punching his mattress so hard that it startled his brother. Raph's knuckles were white from the force he was clenching his fingers and he slowly relaxed his fists.

His fingers unclenched and he brought his hands to his face, covering it and slumping down, "I'm a monster..."

The blue-clad turtle's eyes went wide in shock as his mind connected the dots, quickly figuring out what Raph had meant. He pulled his arm and shifted his position so he was sitting in front of his overwhelmed brother instead of beside him.

"Raphael, look at me."

When Raph refused to comply, Leo gently grabbed his brother's fingers and pried them away to reveal a tear-stained face and reddened eyes.

His baby brother was a mess! He wouldn't allow that.

"You are NOT a monster, Raph. Understand?" His voice was full of conviction and confidence as he said that, cupping Raph's cheek and swiping his thumb across it to wipe the tears, "You're my little brother, not a monster."

"But what if-?"

"Don't." Leo cut him off, "You will never be able to do that to any of us, Raph. And if that ends up happenig, I'll stop you and do whatever I can to snap you out of it and you _will_ stop and casually ask me 'How's it going, brother?' like nothing had happened."

Raphael fell silent for a moment as he registered his brother's words and the surety he heard in them.

"Promise?"

His voice was small and vulnerable as he asked this, hesitantly looking up at his big brother.

Leo wrapped his arms around the younger turtle, enveloping him in a protective hug, "I promise, otouto."

Fresh tears formed in the acid green orbs, these different than his previous tears. He squeezed his eyes shut and the glistening droplets tumbled down his face as the red-clad turtle hugged his brother back with all his strength, burying his face in the elder's shoulder.

"Leo." He hiccuped as a hand ran down his shell in a soothing motion, "Ani..."

"Shhh. I'm here, otouto."

"Don't leave, ani."

"Never."

With another shuddering breath, Raph wept, releasing all the fear, terror, doubt, anger, panic, sorrow, loneliness and every other negative emotion which clouded his mind.

He kept sobbing for a long time, holding on to his big brother as if he'd disappear from sight if he let go. His brother's shoulder was covered in tears but Leo didn't seem to care, murmuring soothing words into his ear and comforting him by stroking the back of his head.

Eventually, the ten year old cried himself to sleep, still enclosed in the protective embrace.

Leonardo held him for a long time before he released a small sigh and gently lowered his sleeping brother to the bed, laying him down. He caressed the side of Raph's face, a soft smile gracing his features.

"Sleep well, otouto." He whispered to the slumbering hothead, his hand moving to stroke the red-masked turtle's forehead, "Love you, Raphie."

Shuffling around, Leo sat up in a more comfortable position, determined to keep a vigil over Raph for the rest of the night.

His sheer stubbornness assisted him in this task for a few hours untill sometime around 4 AM, a yawn escaped the 10 year old turtle. His eyes drooped a little before he snapped them open, sitting upright and on alert so he wouldn't fall asleep. It was a losing battle though, since he dozed off after a few minutes and his head slumped downward, his body following.

And just like that, Leo gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep beside his little brother, both of them completely knocked out.

%%%%%

When Splinter went to the blue-masked turtle's room the next day to wake him up for morning training, he found the bed empty, with no sign of his son anywhere in the room.

The ninja master raised an eyeridge at the empty bedroom and shut the door, assuming that his eldest was already awake.

Moving to the door next to it, he turned the knob and slid the door open to Raphael's room. He was about to call his son's name to wake him up when his eyes fell on the bed and he froze, gaping at the scene that greeted him.

His eldest sons were sleeping peacefully, cuddled together with Raph's head resting on his big brother's shoulder.

A soft smile formed on Splinter's face as he watched the scene for a moment before he silently shut the door and walked away, deciding that he could delay their morning training for a few more hours.

In the dark room, Raph and Leo slept soundlessly, unaware of everything around them except for each other's presence.


	21. Defining Battle

**Defining Battle**

The brothers stared each other down, eyes narrowed and bodies tense, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

There would be No going easy, No holding back and No mercy. Not this time. It was to be a defining battle and none of the four turtles were planning to lose this one.

Their eyes were filled with determination and a competitive streak, the fire in them challenging to a whole another level.

They shared a narrow-eyed glare and at the exact same moment, they pounced to attack.

%%%%%

Casey was heading to the lair to meet his friends, excited to tell them about the basketball game that was going to be aired that night. Raph had been looking forward to it for weeks but didn't know when it would be played, since either Mikey or Leo had kept hogging the TV most of the day and they had patrol at night.

But it didn't matter now as Casey was gonna tell them about it and the others wanted to watch the game too so it was gonna be a fun surprise for all the turtles.

The entrance of the lair finally came into view and the teen sped up to reach the turnstiles, thinking about all the fun they were gonna have. He leaned his hockey stick bag beside the entrance and jogged in.

"Drop whatever you're doing, dudes. As Casey Jones is finally here."

He was expecting Leo's polite greeting, Raph and Mikey's teasing and Donnie's discontent at his presence; not a multitude of arguing voices which inter-mingled so much that it became hard to tell them apart.

"Uh... guys?"

He finally gazed towards the source of noise and saw that the turtles were rolling around in a ball of scuffle, creating an unusually incredulous sight.

"What the heck?!"

He was ignored as the ball rolled past him once again, his friends looking more like cats instead of turtles and he tried to locate their rat sensei, thinking that he'll be able to explain this- this... Thing! to him.

But the ninja master was nowhere to be found, probably having left the lair for some peace and quiet.

"Yo dudes! What's going on?" Casey yelled to catch their attention, to no avail. He even tried calling their names but the turtles ignored him like he wasn't even there.

He mustered up his loudest voice in a last ditch effort and released it.

"GUYS!"

There was no acknowledgement from the turtles and with an agitated groan, Casey decided that it wasn't worth it.

They weren't going to listen anytime soon, anyway.

He sighed and plopped down on the couch, his eyes landing on the open box of pizza where just one slice was remaining. The boy shrugged, picked it up and took a bite from it, grabbing the remote and switching the channel to the basketball match. He ignored the crashing noises caused by breaking of something fragile and focused his attention on the TV, taking another bite of the delicious snack.

In the background, the battle continued; all of the boys' ninja skills thrown out the window as they fought to claim the last slice of pizza.


	22. First Words

**A/n: Inspired from a headcannon. Turtles are nearly two and a half years old in this one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

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**First Words**

"Weo, what thish?"

"Space Ship!"

"Yay! I dwaw shpaysh chhip!"

"Broom. Broom. Brrrroooooooooom." Little Raphael dragged a toy bike acroos the floor as he made the engine noises.

"You dwaw too, Weo!"

"Okay, Mikey!"

Hearty giggles and clapping sounds came from Michelangelo as he watched his eldest brother draw two green blobby figures with two blue dots on each of them.

"Us!"

"Yup! Look Don-Don!"

"Weo dwaw us!"

The turtle who had been silent all along while observing a toy crane with his tongue slightly out glanced up and gave Mikey a gap-toothed smile before he turned his attention back to his inspection.

Splinter was sitting to the side as he fondly watched his sons playing around and interacting. But he noticed that once again, Donatello hadn't talked at all.

He was concerned about this particular son of his since the boy still hadn't spoken his first words whereas the rest of his brothers were all advancing in their speech.

"Zweeeeeeeeeeeee! Kaboom!"

Even if Raphael mostly made up his own words to play racing scenarios, he also knew a few.

Michelangelo had been the first one to say his first word; _'PWAY!'_ As the ninja master recalled fondly. The boy was always full of boundless energy and had the brightest smile Yoshi had ever seen.

The eldest two spoke, or rather yelled, their first words together, a few days after the youngest had done, in a sort of their own competition. They had been wrestling around and laughing when they both squealed a version of each other's names; _'Waph!'_ and _'__'Eo! '_ at the exact same time, then fell back and laughed again before continuing their match.

Donatello, on the other hand, had always been silent, observing everything around him with curious, intelligent eyes as he was currently doing. Hamato Yoshi wondered, not for the first time, when and what his second-youngest son would say.

A high-pitched yell broke the ninja master out of his thoughts and his head snapped up while his gaze darted around to locate the child who had released the stressful noise.

His eyes landed on Raph to see the green-eyed turtle harshly shove his younger brother, who fell on the floor on his bottom.

"Donatello!" Splinter rushed towards his whimpering son and pulled the boy in his lap, checking him to make sure he wasn't injured. Leonardo and Michelangelo halted what they've been doing when they heard their father's worried tone and crawled into their father's lap to comfort their distressed sibling while Raphael looked down with guilt.

"Donatello, are you alright?" The tot gazed up at his father with bright, reddish-brown eyes glistening with tears.

He opened his mouth and Splinter assumed that he was going to wail but before he could discern what was happening, a different sound came out of the tot's mouth.

"Papa, Raphie is hogging all the toys again!"

Splinter's eyes blew wide as saucers as he looked down at his son in shock. He wasn't able to form any coherent words to respond and could only stare down with his mouth hanging open.

Donatello had spoken his first word.

No. Not word. He spoke several words, a whole sentence. Complete. Unbroken. Without any grammatical error. H-How? When-?

"Papa! You're not listening to me!" The high-pitched declaration broke him out of his stupor and he finally registered what his son had said. He quickly masked his shock to look towards Raphael with disapproval.

"Raphael, It is not nice to take your brother's toys without permission."

His reprimanding had the desired effect and Raph looked up at his father with guilt-ridden, green eyes, "Shorry, Daddy..."

"It is not me you must apologise to. It is Donatello. And you should return his toy back to him."

Raph looked down with a frown and moved one hand behind his shell to pick up the toy crane he had been hiding. He removed the vehicle and held it out towards his brother.

"Shorry, Don-Don..."

"It's alright, Raphie." The olive-green turtle forgave his hotheaded brother with a grin, "Just don't snatch my stuff again."

As Raph smiled at being forgiven and chirped an 'Okay!', Leo took the toy crane from Raph's outstretched hand and gave it to his younger brother, "Here, Don-Don."

"Thankyou!"

"Weo, I pway too?"

Leo nodded at Mikey with a smile and the youngest beamed before taking out his own toy ducky to play with.

As Donnie became distracted with the mechanisms of working a crane, Splinter pulled his other three sons to the side and asked them the question that had been lingering on his mind ever since he registered that they weren't surprised after hearing their intelligent brother talk so suddenly.

"Did you boys know about this?"

Raph and Leo chorused 'Yes daddy!' while Mikey looked at his elder brothers in confusion, his chubby hand bringing the duck closer to his mouth. Raph noticed this and gently pulled the hand away before he leaned closer to Mikey to whisper in his ear, "Daddy talking about Don-Don."

"Oooooh! Yesh dada! Don-Don talks."

Splinter held back another wave of surprise from coming over him to ask his next question.

"Since when has your brother been able to speak?"

Leonardo stood up with a little wobble and quickly regained his balance before he spread his arms out wide in a typical gesture for indicating 'huge'.

"LOTS of days and LOTS of nights, daddy!"

Splinter shook his head in amazement as his eyes went wide once again. His thoughts drifted and he barely noticed that the three little turtles had crawled away to sit beside their gap-toothed brother with chirping voices.

Only a few things in life had ever caught the ninja master off guard but his sons _never_ ceased to amaze him.

A hoard of giggles came from his sons and he sat back to watch them play with each other.

And although he saw that everyday, their bonds still never ceased to amaze him.


	23. Ninja

**_Guest: I agree with you; Turtle tots really do melt our hearts. Thanks for the review!_**

**A/n: Takes place during the first season.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own the turtles.**

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**Ninja**

"If you had to keep a secret from someone who knows you too well, how would you do it?" The youngest wondered out loud as he stirred the soup he was cooking.

Raph snorted, "Ya can't hide something from us, Mikey, no matter how hard you try."

"I know _I_ won't be able to but," Mikey put a lid over the pot and lowered the flames before joining his two brothers, "I'm asking what would _you_ do?"

"Well, it depends." Donnie grabbed his chin in a contemplative manner, "There are numerous variables here that require consideration to maximize the chance of success and for such purpose, I would analyse the effect of each strategy and then decide which one has the highest probability of-"

"_Ahem._" The genius sent Raph an annoyed glare at the abrupt interruption of his hypothesis but the second-eldest ignored it, "English, Donnie."

Donatello sighed, "I said that I would think through everything and then decide my next move."

"See? Wasn't that easier to say?"

"Well, technically..."

"Ughh, here we go again." Raphael threw up his hands in exasperation.

Michelangelo snickered at the typical Raph-scowl that appeared as soon as the purple-masked turtle had said, 'technically'.

When he listened for a few more seconds, Mikey realized that Donnie's techno-babble wasn't making any sense to him either so he interrupted his immediately elder brother's rant as his curiousity won over.

"What about you, Raph?"

The hothead raised an eyeridge, "Me?"

"Yeah. What would you do if you had to hide something from us?"

"That's pretty simple, actually." Raph hooked his hands behind his head and leaned back as his younger brothers listened in interest, "If it's Donnie or you, I'll shrug you off. If it's Sensei, I'll act casual like nothing had happened."

"What if we don't want to be shrugged off?" Mikey pried, not ready to accept such an easy answer.

"Well in that case..." Raph sat straighter and cracked his knuckles, sending Mikey a devious grin, "Action always speaks louder than words."

The orange-clad turtle 'Eeeped' and immediately backed down, hiding behind Donnie.

"Hiding secrets from people who know you too well isn't easy, Raph."

" 'Course it is, genius. I just told you how."

"Really? And what if you have to encounter a suspicious Leo?" Donnie pointed out to his immediately elder brother, "What will you tell him?"

"Tell me about what?"

Leonardo suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a spot that was vacant just a second ago, startling the other three turtles out of their shells who, on instinct, released loud and terrified screams and clung to each other for dear life, their eyes blown wide in shock and fear.

The blue-masked turtle acted unfazed at this hilarious reaction and casually sat on his seat with a cup of tea in his hands, now understanding the reason why their father loved to sneak up on them all like a ghost; It was fun.

When the boys finally registered what had happened, they stopped screaming and slowly released their holds on each other, stepping away with their eyes still wide and their breathing heavy, as if they had just ran a marathon. They worked to catch their bearings as their heartbeats drummed into their ears, caused due to the sudden rush of adrenaline.

After what felt like an eternity but in fact was only a minute, the adrenaline bagan to die down and the three brothers relaxed.

As Donnie and Mikey exhaled shakily, Raphael's eyes landed on the reason behind this terrifying jumpscare and he glared at Leo who sat there calmly and sipped his tea, watching them silently with not a single expression appearing on his face besides utter innocence.

Then he saw it.

It flashed for just a milisecond and was masked immediately but he had seen it; a flicker of amusement on the blue-clad ninja's face.

With a low growl escaping him, Raph pointed an accusatory finger at his sneaky brother.

"You're enjoying this. Aren't ya?"

"W-Wha? Who? Me? No, I'm not enjoying it. Not at all. Never." Leo explained hurriedly while avoiding eye contact and raised his cup to hide the barely contained grin, "Why would I ever do that?"

The younger three just stared at him with deadpanned expressions.

When Leo lowered the cup after taking another sip, his gaze involuntarily darted towards his brothers who were all staring at him with a hint of annoyance.

His cheeks puffed out as he saw their expressions, trying his best to hold back his laughter. The images of the looks on his brothers' faces and their girlish screams when they got startled flashed through his mind and he couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Pff-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The cup of tea was set on the table, forgotten as it's owner lost the battle to the hilarity of that moment, "Y-Your... faces! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Leo fell back on the floor with one shaky finger pointed at his younger brothers and one hand holding his stomach, his eyes squeezed shut as he laughed nonstop.

The other three turtles watched him for a moment before they shared a look and gave each other a collective nod. And before anyone could discern what was happening, they all pounced on their leader, restraining him at once.

"G-Guys?!" Leo squeaked out in surprise as he was suddenly being trapped by his younger brothers, "What are you- mmmmph!"

%%%%%

"Leonardo?"

Splinter called out as he walked into the living area, searching for his eldest son.

Leo was nowhere to be seen and the ninja master had been waiting for him to arrive for his extra training. After sitting patiently for quite a while, he had decided to go search for him himself.

But Leo wasn't in the pit either; Only Raphael and Michelangelo were present, with Raph beating the colourful daylights out of his unfortunate, practice dummy and Mikey being busy playing a video game.

"Do any of you know where Leonardo is?" Splinter inquired the two boys and Mikey simply shrugged in response, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"Don't know, Sensei." Raph answered casually with a shrug before he paused in his punching to look at his father with confusion, "Haven't seen him."

Yoshi hummed while stroking his beard, getting a little suspicious about Leonardo's absence and Raphael's strange behaviour. It wouldn't seem strange to anybody else but Splinter knew his sons better than they knew themselves. And right now, it seemed that Raphael was hiding something from him.

He shook it off and decided to leave the matter as it was, heading to the kitchen for a refreshing cup of jasmine tea.

He could teach Leonardo about more stealth techniques some other time; It seemed to be the boy's favourite lesson these days. The reason was lost to him.

%%%%%

Behind the soundproof doors of Donatello's lab, a teenage mutant ninja turtle sat on the floor, covered from head to toe in duct tape with all his weapons placed out of his reach while his genius brother merrily worked on inventing something new, explaining the whole process to his exasperated and constrained brother who wasn't able to escape no matter how hard he tried; or talk for that matter.

A scuffling sound caught Donnie's attention and he turned to see the pointless struggles and a mixture of angry and agitated expressions on the elder's face, "Don't worry, Leo. We'll let you out... eventually."

He paused and seemed to reconsider something before he looked down at Leo, wearing an innocent, gap-toothed grin.

"Maybe."


	24. Bedtime Story

**A/n: Inspired by my youngest brother's antics(and my own as well). The turtles' ages lie somewhere between 4 years and 8 years, you can choose since I'm too tired to decide.**

**P.S: I hate exams.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

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**Bedtime Story**

It was late.

The lights were out and every inhabitant of the lair was fast asleep, breathing evenly in the silence of after-midnight. Well... everyone except for one little turtle who was wide awake, unable to fall asleep.

He kept staring up at the shadowy ceiling, the sounds of his brothers' soft breathing echoing in the room's silence. Mikey closed his eyes and tried his hardest to go to sleep but he couldn't accomplish the task. He squeezed his eyes even harder and hoped that doing so would magically put him into slumber.

It didn't work as he had hoped so the freckled turtle shifted his position, turning to lie on his side. No such luck either.

After attempting various different things, some even childish and ridiculous, the young tot was _still_ awake and he sighed in annoyance, a pout appearing on his cute, chubby face.

Restlessly tossing and turning on his bed as he looked around the room, Mikey's eyes fell on his brother who was sleeping on his own bed across the room and he perked up as a lightbulb formed in his head.

He removed his blanket and jumped out of bed, being extra careful to keep his steps silent as he approached the other turtle. He climbed onto the bed and wiggled himself under Leonardo's arm.

"Leo?" Mikey whispered.

The elder turtle didn't answer, unaware of his younger brother's presence so Mikey tried again, shaking him slightly this time.

"Leo, wake up."

"Huh? Mikey?" Leo mumbled as he blinked his eyes open and rubbed them with his fist, "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares?"

Mikey shook his head in denial.

"Feeling thirsty or hungry?"

Another shake of the head.

Leo's expression morphed into one of confusion, "Then why can't you sleep?"

"I don't know, Leo." Mikey said with just as much confusion and cuddled closer to his brother, "I tried everything and nothing worked so I thought that... Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

"Sure, Mikey." Leo said with a smile and lowered his arm over the smaller turtle, "Which one do you wanna hear?"

The youngest beamed at hearing this, "A new one!"

_"Shhhh." _Leonardo quickly shushed his baby brother and took a quick look at the other two to make sure they hadn't been disturbed by the loud exclamation.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were still asleep and looked down at Mikey who chuckled sheepishly.

"No loud noises. Okay?"

"No loud noises, captain." Mikey whispered with a salute, "Turtle's promise."

The eldest good-naturedly rolled his eyes and started telling Mikey a story, making it up as it went.

Michelangelo listened on with keen interest as his brother's not-loud voice narrated the tale of a strong and loyal horse. Leo noticed that Mikey wasn't getting sleepy at all so he kept extending the tale, adding more and more adventurous scenes to it.

After quite some time, the voice narrating the story gradually became softer and softer as Leo became more and more sleepy. Mikey didn't notice until it trailed off into silence which stretched on as the youngest waited for his brother to tell him what happened next.

When he heard nothing for a whole minute, Michelangelo finally gazed up to see why Leo had stopped speaking and saw that his brother's eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even.

"Leo, you asleep?"

There was no answer.

"Pssss. Leo."

"Mmmm?" The turtles face scrunched up a little, his eyes still closed.

"What happened after that?"

"Huh?"

"What happened after that horse got stuck on the ledge?"

"He... ummm... neighed?" Then Leo let out a yawn and sank into his pillow while mumbling sleepily, "He ate chocolate cake after taking it out of a fridge."

"But he was stuck on a ledge."

There was a long pause before the response came.

"Who?"

"The horse." Mikey reminded him, "What did he do then?"

"He went back to sleep..."

Leo trailed off as he fell asleep again and Mikey giggled at the incoherent mumbling, sliding out from under his big brother's arm. He dropped on the floor and trudged towards where Donnie was sleeping and snuggled next to him, getting close to his head to whisper in his ear.

"Pssss. Donnie."

Donnie jerked and halfway opened his eyes, dazed and confused.

"Wha? Who?"

"Can you tell me that story about a horse who goes on a quest to find his missing rider?"

Donatello blinked, registered his brother's words and blinked again before he sighed and closed his eyes, extending his blanket to cover Mikey as he started narrating in a low voice.

"Once upon a time, there was a small village close to the forest. A man lived there with his family and they had a farm and some animals. They also had a brown horse who..."

%%%%%

About an hour later, Donnie was whistling through his tooth-gap as he slept soundly while the youngest was still wide awake; Donatello's version of a horse story having put _Donnie_ to sleep instead of Mikey.

The tot slid out of the genius's bed and covered his immediately elder brother with the blanket before silently tip-toeing towards a snoring Raph.

He grabbed the shoulder of the second-eldest turtle and shook it.

"Pssss. Raph."


	25. Tuesdays

**Tuesdays**

It was just a typical, Tuesday afternoon.

"So..." Raph trailed off, his confused gaze fixed on the weirdly decorated lab doors which had caught their attention as soon as the eldest two turtles had strolled in through the turnstiles, "What do ya think?"

"Mikey's doing, obviously." Leo stated as he also stared at the lab's doors, which were covered in spooky/dangerous-looking decorations like fake thorns and spider-webs. A huge, arch-shaped cardboard hung over the metal frame.

' _HE WHO DARES TREAD PAST THE ENTRANCE SHALL SUFFER THE WRATH OF DONATELLO _' was written on the cardboard in bold, red letters having a smokey black background. Flowing crimson droplets were painted under the letters, giving them a blood-like appearance which was something straight out of a horror movie.

Leonardo distantly wondered how his baby brother did some of things he did so quickly; him and Raph were only gone for 15 minutes.

"What do you think happened this time?" Raph inquired, his tune sounding curious and exasperated at the same time.

Leo thought for a moment with his eyes still fixed on the cardboard arch before he shook his head in resignation and turned away.

"I don't wanna know."

Saying that, he walked towards the dojo without another glance and Raphael simply shrugged, following after his brother and already itching for some spar.

Weird things like this weren't unusual with Mikey around. Raph was just glad that there wasn't any bucket of orange slime targeted at him or Leo.

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Hiding among the rafters over the entrance of their dojo, a white-eyed ninja crouched in the shadows, a mischievious smile playing on his face as he held a bucket of goo in his hands, prepared to splash it over his unsuspecting older brothers. He heard their approaching footsteps and started countdown.

_3_

The sound of footsteps stopped outside the paper doors.

_2_

The doors were slid open.

_1_

Two turtles stepped inside and-

_SPLASH!_

-froze in their tracks, now dripping with a glittery, orange slime. The freckled ninja took adventage of their shock and fled, his loud and lively laughter ringing throughout their home.

Just a typical, Tuesday afternoon.


	26. Dragons

**A/n: This is a side-fick for 'Vikings and Bikes'. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters appearing in this oneshot, neither do I own the nursery rhymes.**

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**Dragons**

"Woah!" Mikey exclaimed as something dark and fast flew past him, the velocity of it pulling him towards it but Mikey withstood the harsh pull, his feet planted firmly on the floor.

His excitement skyrocketed when he noticed the silhouette of the nearly invisible creature against the far away city lights.

"Dude, did you see that?! It was a Dragon!"

"Mikey, watch out!" A couple of lasers were deflected by a bo staff as Donnie got between the Kraang-droid and his younger brother, impaling the naginata blade into the bot's head. It dropped with a few sparks and a brain hopped out of it, crawling away as it squeaked.

"You're supposed to be covering my back, Mikey. Not the other way around."

"That was so awesome! I saw a huge, black dragon!"

"Are you even listening? We gotta close these random portals." Donnie chided before turning his attention back to the alien computer, "And dragons don't exist."

"But I just saw one! It was huge and black and very very fast! I wonder if its cute too."

"Must have been an alien or a mutant."

"It wasn't, Dee. I swear I saw it."

The other turtle ignored him, his attention focused on turning off the portals while Leo and Raph were fighting off Biotroids on another floor of TCRI, trying to prevent them from reaching Donnie and Mikey.

"The others would have believed me." Mikey mumbled in resignation and extended his kusarigama, launching himself to jump upon the next wave of Kraang-droids.

%%%%%

"Since when did they get so tough?" Leonardo panted as he slashed at the giant arm, finally managing to cut it off.

"Heck if I know." Raph dodged the lasers which were being shot at him and he suddenly yelped, scrambling to dodge a cute, teddy bear sized turtle having a squirrel tail.

"SQUIRTLEEEEE! Squir Squir Squirtle! Squirtle Squirtle!"

It ran past his legs and jumped into another triangle which had appeared seconds ago. It was followed by another teddy bear sized creature which was yellow in colour and had long pointy ears and zigzag tail.

"Pika pika pi! Pika!

Raph watched them incredulously for a moment before shaking his head and punching a Kraang-droid.

"I'ma go looney if this continues any longer. Donnie needs to shut down these portals and redirect these things back to their dimensions."

A loud, guttural growl sounded from above them and both brothers let out alarmed shouts before jumping to the side as a huge dragon covered in flames landed where they've been a second ago.

It raised its blazing head and glared at the two turtles who could only stare at it with wide eyes.

%%%%%

In another dimension, a few kids sat around the LCD screen as they watched their favourite cartoon on Nickelodeon. A pink triangle suddenly appeared in their room and they gasped in excitement.

"A Kraang Portal!"

The kids scrambled up and rushed towards it but it disappeared before they could reach it and they tripped over each other.

"Awwwwwwww!"

They whined collectively and one of the boys looked back at the screen before perking up, "Guys Look! Raph is about to get turned into a turkey!"

The kids forgot about the portal in favour of watching the rest of the episode and sat around the screen once again.

%%%%%

"Bashing all the Kraang-droids

Passing all the hurdles!"

Mikey sang as he flipped from one place to the other, incapacitating every single Kraang he ran across.

"That's the way the ninjas go

Pop goes the turtle!"

Donnie was typing on the touch-sensitive panel while trying his best to drown out Mikey's singing. It was giving him a headache.

"Up and down the building walls

Around 'n around the portals

That's the way the ninjas go

Pop goes the turtle!"

"Mikey..." Donnie started calmly, his voice getting louder with each syllable, "Would you please just SHUT UP!"

The youngest turtle stopped singing immediately, humming the poem to himself instead as he flipped about and continued to fight, covering Donnie's back.

The genius sighed, greatful for the peace and the fact that he could now focus on the task at hand. After a couple of minutes of typing, he shouted in triumph and pressed a button on the side.

All the pink triangles began to disappear, as did most of the creatures which didn't belong in this dimension.

Mikey and Donnie made quick work of the rest of Kraang-droids before rushing inside an elevator to get to their brothers on the upper floor. As it moved, Donnie took out his T-phone to text April and in a few seconds, the elevator stopped, its doors sliding open with a ding.

"What took you guys so long?" Leo's asked while subtly checking them over to make sure they weren't injured and relaxed a little after seeing only some superficial bruises

"Mikey was fantasising again." Donnie stated flatly without looking up from his T-phone as he walked forward and ran into the Michelangelo's shell, who had frozen on the spot.

"Mikey, why did you..." His voice trailed off as he gazed up and saw what his younger brother was staring at, "Wow..."

There in front of them sat Raphael, a huge smile on his face as he kept stroking and patting a dragon who laid next to him with its head in Raph's lap.

Shaking himself, Mikey finally noticed that Leo had been sneakily recording the whole thing on his T-phone and he skipped next to his eldest brother to watch from up close. That movement broke Donatello out of his petrified trance.

"W-Wha- How? But it- Huh?"

"We don't speak 'Malfunctioning Robot', Donnie." Raph teased with a smirk as he gently stroked the dragon's neck, "Try again in English."

"How?!" He gestured incredulously at the huge, dangerous beast who was acting like a kitten while rubbing its head against the hothead's hands.

"He's Raph." Leo shrugged, though the smile on his face gave away the fondness he was feeling, "Snow White, remember?"

"Don't call me that!"

Mikey beamed at the whole thing, "Dude, this is epic!" Then he turned to hop and dance around Donnie in circles, "I told you dragons exist! Haha! I told you so~ I told you so~ I told you so~ In your face! Hahaha!" Mikey kept singing while dancing around a baffled Donnie.

The other two turtles chuckled and after sharing an amused look with Raph, Leo pointed the camera towards their younger brothers, recording Michelangelo's childish antics and Donatello's sputtering.

They all stopped what they were doing when a black dragon suddenly flew in and landed, looking exhausted after having to carry four people– three of them being vikings.

One of the two huge men jumped off the dragon and held up a hysterically laughing Casey towards the four surprised turtles.

"Does this belong to you?"

They blinked and shared a wide-eyed look.

%%%%%

Mikey reveled in the fact that he was right. _Again_. This black dragon truly _was_ cute, with its retractable teeth and adorable green eyes and playful nudges. He completely forgot about teasing Donnie and played with Toothless instead, Leonardo joining him as well. Afterall, they both loved dragons.

"A Monstrous Nightmare is the angriest dragon I know of. It's quite impressive that you tamed one so easily." Hiccup adressed the red-masked turtle who was sitting cross-legged while rubbing the dragon's head, a soft smile gracing his features.

"Thanks."

"Raphie loves animals!" Mikey supplied helpfully from above Toothless' back while Leo scratched the nightfury under his chin, making him purr blissfully.

_Boy, this dragon was adorable!_

Donnie, on the other hand, had started working on locating the dimension these dragons came from soon after the turtles had introduced themselves to the three humans; Casey was currently entertaining two of them.

It took the genius turtle a few minutes in which his brothers busied themselves into playing with the winged reptiles but he finally found the correct dimension and after a few clicks, activated the portal leading to it.

%%%%%

As they walked through the sewer tunnels after sending those vikings and dragons back to their dimension and grabbing some pizza, Leo wouldn't stop fanboying. He was super excited and kept going on and on about seeing an actual dragon and playing with one.

Donnie had strolled ahead and Raph thanked his lucky stars that Mikey had his mouth full with pizza and wasn't talking, being too busy relishing the cheesy, hot goodness.

"...they loved getting scratched under the chin and the nightfury's wings were actually bigger than the other dragon! But he could flame up and..."

Raph rolled his eyes at his dorky big brother and tried to block out the constant rambling. It was all for nought though, as Leo was suddenly in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him back and forth.

"And they were highly intelligent too!"

Raph covered Leo's mouth to stop him from speaking any further.

"Bring your fanboying down a notch. Will ya? Your'e acting worse than Mikey."

Leo tilted his head, his blue eyes wide. He looked like a kid at that moment and the red-masked turtle wondered if he was somehow _possesed_ by Mikey. He sighed and strolled ahead, his brother silently falling in step next to him.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Leonardo spoke again, "You are really good with animals, y'know."

Raph grunted in response, inwardly smiling at the unexpected praise. The blue-masked turtle grabbed his arm and turned him so they faced each other.

"Thanks for saving me back there."

Raph grinned and threw an arm across his brother's shoulders as they resumed walking towards home.

"That's what brothers are for."

%%%%%

When the guys reached the lair and exuberantly reported to their father about the mission gone successful, they never realized how lucky they've been that a TMNT fan hadn't stumbled out of one of those portals.


	27. Sound Effects

**A/n: I know it's not Halloween yet but this wrote itself.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles.**

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**Sound Effects**

Halloween was supposed to be fun.

It was that one time of the year where they could go out in the open without having to worry about hiding in the shadows and wear costumes and make up some fun games to play.

This time however, Leonardo was having second thoughts about this Halloween game as he ventured through the dark and scary sewers. He appeared to be alone but he knew his brothers were hiding around the place, watching his every move while simultaneously trying to scare him.

It wasn't that he was _scared_ at the moment. Not at all. He would win as he always did. It was just that this time a tiny, additional detail was putting him on edge.

The atmosphere was getting creepier by the minute and Leo paused in his walk and sighed, turning his gaze towards a dark ledge somewhere to his left.

"Mikey, turn off the sound effects."

"Ah, man!" A whiny whisper came from the direction Leo was looking at, "How does he do that?!"

Leonardo narrowed his eyes, "Mikey..."

"Alright! Alright! Sheesh!"

There was a click and the creepy sounds were gone. With a small smile, Leo continued his trek through the sewers, confident that he would win now. Next time, his brothers should think twice before going against the rules of this game when playing against the Fearless Leader.


	28. The Best Gift

**A/n: My exams aren't over yet but what kind of TMNT fan would I be if I didn't write anything for the Mutation Day? Even if I'm a day late(thanks to my annoying younger brothers, I swear they are too lucky that they're cute or they'd be dead meat by now).**

**That aside, Happy Mutation Day, TMNT!**

%%%%%

**The Best Gift**

A light tickling on his snout, the feel of a soft feather disturbed his sleep and he moaned, his face scrunching up.

"Mikeyyy..." The voice of his immediately elder brother whispered, "Wake up, Mikey."

"Noo..." He groaned and turned away from the feather, rolling on his plastron before he was pulled from the world of consciousness once again.

He was not even fully asleep yet when he heard voices talking and footsteps coming his way. A hand laid on his shell and the peaceful comfort he felt from it was relaxing him further into slumber... until the owner of the hand spoke up.

"C'mon, lil' bro. Time to wake up."

"Jus' five more minutes, mommy." He mumbled without opening his eyes and heard a snicker come from the doorway.

"Mommy?" The voice sounded highly amused as it drew nearer, "Good one, Mikey. That totally suits this motherhen over here."

"Shut up, Raph."

"Hey, it's true y'know."

"Sorry, Leo, but I'm siding with Raph and Mikey on this one."

"Guys, focus. Waking our brother for this special day, remember?"

Special day? What special day? Meh, he'll wonder later. Right now, pepperoni and jellybean pizza slices were calling him.

"Oh right!" By the tone of his voice, Raphael didn't sound like someone who had just recalled what he was supposed to be doing, "Well, I'm pretty sure Mommy Leo can handle that."

The agitated glare pointed his way was completely ignored and Raph continued grinning at his elder brother. Resigned, Leonardo sighed and turned back to his youngest brother.

"Michelangelo," he called the sleeping, drooling, orange-masked turtle and patted his shell, "Wake up. It's Mutation Day."

The last two words had memories rushing back to him and he immediatly bolted up like he wasn't asleep at all, startling his unsuspecting brothers.

"Happy Mutation Day, Bros!" He cheered and hugged the turtle closest to him, who turned out to be Leonardo.

"Agh! Uh... Mike," The blue-masked ninja wheezed, "I can't breathe."

Mikey let go of Leo and jumped out of bed, squeezing Donnie in a hug before he released him and turned to Raph, doing the same with him.

"This is gonna be the best day ever!" He exclaimed and skipped out of the room, humming some unknown tone and leaving three confused brothers staring at the doorway.

"What just happened?" Raph asked no one in particular and the others only shrugged in response before they all left the room.

%%%%%

"Ugghh..." Raphael and Michelangelo leaned over the table while holding their stomachs, so full that they couldn't even move. Overeating could be blamed on the food, though. The Irresistible, Delicious, Glorious food.

Infact, to say that breakfast was delicious would be an understatement; Mikey had gone out of his way to cook the most delicious meal he could for his brothers. Pancakes with chocolate syrup were loved by all but they weren't the only things he cooked, which resulted in a table full of various dishes. Now, everyone was wondering if there was enough space in the fridge for everything.

Deciding that they had to move at some point, the other two turtles reluctantly got up and began to clean the table, somehow coming up with a solution to store everything in the fridge, Mikey didn't know how. They were smart and strategic, probably used their brains for that.

"You guys can handle the dishes?" Leo asked his unmoving brothers while placing a bowl full of sandwiches in the fridge- wait, bowl? The sandwiches were placed on a tray.

Raph waved his hand with his head still on the table, signaling that they could leave and not noticing what Mikey had noticed.

Leo closed the fridge door and shared a look with Donnie before heading out. The genius placed the plates in the sink and followed him outside.

"C'mon, Knucklehead." Raph got up after a while, hefting the youngest up with his arm, "Let's get this done and then we'll go bring the others."

"Hey, Raph?" Mikey asked his brother as he helped him with the dishes, "What gift have you got for me?"

"Nice try, Mikey. I'm not gonna tell."

Mikey wilted with a whimper, "But I'm your cute baby brother. You can't even tell me what my gift is?"

"Nope."

"Hmmph."

%%%%%

"I have all of Mikey's favourite songs downloaded in this sound system," Donnie pointed at a collection of speakers as he pressed a few buttons on the miniature projector he was holding, "The lightnings and special effects are almost ready as well."

"That's great. Mikey is gonna love it." Leo's voice sounded from the other side of the lab, hidden behind the ShellRaiser where he was attaching strings to the the various decorations he had made.

As the sensei, Leo had taken it upon himself to arrange and host the party, leaving Mikey and Raph to invite everyone and Donnie to help him prepare the surprise he had planned for the youngest.

"Who do you think would be the King of Presents this year?" He wondered outloud about the annual tradition they had made up when they were younger. The turtle who would give the best gifts was crowned the King of Presents and all four of them had won the title more than once. Suffice to say, it was a very fun tradition.

"I don't know, Leo." Donnie shrugged, "Raph maybe?"

Leonardo heard the voices of his other two brothers talking as they were leaving to get the others and he froze, signaling Donnie to quiet down.

After a while he relaxed and stood up, hurrying towards the lab doors. He slid one open a crack and peered out, staring at the empty lair.

"The coast is clear."

Donatello nodded and grabbed two speakers while his elder brother opened the doors the rest of the way. They both moved everything into the pit and set to work on setting it all up.

%%%%%

"Raaaaaaaph!"

Michelangelo called out in the darkness of the sewers. It had been quite a while since his hotheaded brother mysteriously disappeared and after searching for his lost brother for nearly half hour, Mikey was beginning to think that he wasn't lost at all and had purposefully ditched him. The second-eldest hadn't even answered his texts yet.

Feeling tired and angry, he huffed in annoyance and trudged back to the lair, thinking that Raph could find his way back by himself if he wanted; they all knew the layout of the sewers. And besides, Leo's gift still needed to be wrapped.

He was halfway to the lair when his T-phone dinged with a text message from Raph.

_Back at the lair. Brought the others with me too._

Another text came just as he finished reading the previous one, this one from Leo.

_Hurry home, Mikey. We're all waiting for you._

So his meanie, red-masked brother _had_ ditched him. _That meanie._ With another huff and an angry pout, Mikey stomped back home.

After a mile or so, he paused, his face scrunching up in confusion at hearing the distant sound of music which seemed to be coming from the direction of his home, "What the?"

He followed the rhythmic beat and sure enough, it lead straight towards the lair. Not being able to hold back his curiousity for much longer, Mikey ran inside and jumped over the turnstiles, startling to a stop as a bunch of balloons suddenly popped above him, showering him with a barrage of colourful paper squares and strips.

"HAPPY MUTATION DAY!"

He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw the lair decorated with glittery cardboard pizzas, blue, orange, red and purple tinsels, lots of balloons, colorful laser lights and projections, and a long table with numerous snacks and drinks placed on it.

The music was blaring with his favourite songs and there was a tall tower of pizza boxes placed to the side, he could smell the cheesy aroma of those pizzas all the way from the entrance. Everyone was wearing party hats with pictures of pizzas on them while grinning at his surprised face.

Leo appeared next to him, draping an arm over his shoulders.

"Happy Mutation Day, Mikey." He said with an amused smile, "I hope you liked my gift."

"You... did all of this?" Mikey's voice was just above a whisper as he stared ahead at the Pizza themed disco party, the wall projections and laser lights making images of everything he likes(skateboards, cats, pizzas etc) and the music of his choice playing with lights changing in beat. Casey, April, Karai, Shinigami and the Mutanimals, everyone was there. Ice Cream Kitty was sitting in a huge bowl of ice, meowing and dancing as Chompy chirped from his perch over the television.

"I had a little help but yeah, most of it."

A huge grin split over Mikey's face and he tackled his eldest brother in another squeezing hug.

"YOU'RE THE BEST!" He squealed and jumped up, flipping and landing into the pit with a loud whoop.

"Let's get this party started!"

Raph chuckled, "Sure, Knucklehead. But first," he started and grabbed Mikey in a headlock, picking up a party hat from the side, "you gotta look the part."

He put the hat on Mikey's head before releasing the youngest, "_Now_ let's get this party started."

Mikey let out another excited whoop, high-threeing his red-masked brother.

%%%%%

"So?"

"It's a tanto blade." Leo stated with a deadpanned tone. More than half of his gifts ended up being blades of one sort or another.

Karai grinned, "Uh huh. Do you like it?"

"That's the same thing you gave me last year. And the year before that."

"I know, right? Teasing you is really satisfying."

Raph held back a grin as he fumbled with the dumbells Slash got for him, "Is it wrong that I agree with her, Fearless?"

Leonardo took a deep breath and slowly let it out, resisting the urge to rise to the bait. His two best friends had made a weird habit of teaming up just to annoy him.

"Yup. Definitely satisfying."

The eldest turtle half heartedly glared at his sister who wouldn't stop smirking.

"You're getting these blades back as gift on your own birthday."

Before Karai could answer, a loud gong sounded throughout the lair, halting all activity and Donnie stepped forth into the pit, holding the gong and a small metal staff. Chompy pressed a button on the remote next to him and the music stopped.

"I, Hamato Donatello, hereby announce that the time has come to open the gifts. May the contest began!"

He handed the gong to Casey who kept wondering where that thing even came from and all four brothers disappeared in the blink of an eye before they quickly assembled in the pit, each carrying three packages, besides Leo who held two.

"What is going on? Haven't they already opened their gifts?" Mondo asked Slash who was sitting beside him. The turquise turtle shushed him and explained in a whisper.

"It's the ceremony. They only opened our gifts, not the ones from each other and it's only reserved for the four of them. The brother who gives best gifts is crowned the King of Presents."

"Wow. Cool."

Leonardo placed his packages to the side and sat down, "Alright, Donnie. You were the King of Presents last year. You start."

Donnie picked up a thin package wrapped in blue paper and presented it to his eldest brother, "Here, Leo. I couldn't think of making anything electronic for you so..."

He took the slim but slightly heavy package and carefully opened the wrapper, revealing a brand new, hard cover book. He read the title, blinked and read it again before a soft smile appeared on his face, "I've been wanting to read this for months. Where did you find it, Dee?"

The purple-masked turtle shrugged, a barely contained smirk betraying his satisfaction as he handed out the other two packages to Mikey and Raph. Both ripped theirs open without a second thought.

"OMG! A HOVER BOARD!" Mikey completely forgot about the rules of ceremony and stood up, placing the orange and black hoverboard on the floor to try and balance on it.

"Mikey."

"Uhh... right." He sat back down at hearing the stern command, his expression becoming sheepish, "Gifts should be tried _after_ the ceremony."

Leo nodded approvingly and turned to Raph who was staring at a small screen in confusion, "What did you get?"

"A screen of some sort. Don't know for sure."

"It's a progress scale, Raph." Donnie explained the function of his invention, "It will measure the force and amount of your punches when you beat up that punching dummy you love and hate so much."

Raph rolled his eyes and placed the screen to the side as everyone laughed.

"My turn!" Leo excitedly picked the presents he had brought and gave them to their recipients, "Mikey, you already got yours."

Mikey nodded and bounced in place, waiting for his brothers to open their presents. Why were they taking so long, again?

Raph was just sitting there and Donnie was taking a good amount of time finding each tape and slowly peeling it off and-

"Ahh, forget it." Mikey snatched the wrapped box from Donnie's hands, ignoring his shout of protest. He ripped the paper open to reveal a cardboard box and handed it back to Donnie.

"Now open it and don't take an hour doing it."

"You could've just asked me to hurry, you know."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You're insufferable."

"Uh, Donnie?" Raph spoke with a hand under his chin and looking bored out of his mind, "Hurry up."

Donnie opened the box and beamed at seeing a bluish-grey coffee mug having drawings of microscope, test tubes, atomic particle and conical flasks drawn on it.

"Just don't use it too much. I still want you to sleep at some point."

"Sure, Leo. Thanks."

"Dawww! You got him a new cup for his coffee." Mikey observed the simple yet meaningful design, "It's adorable."

Leo smiled and turned to Raph expectantly. The hothead shrugged and began to remove the gift wrap from his larger gift.

"Holy Chalupa..." He whispered with wide eyes and grabbed one of the many small jars of acrylic paint, observing the mahogany color before placing it back and picking up an angled brush, running his finger over the pointed tip.

"Leo... I... how..."

The eldest chuckled at his reaction and placed the brush back in the art kit, "You can make as many paintings as you want now. Just make one of all of us too."

"You dork!" He punched his brother's shoulder with a laugh, "How did you know I wanted to paint these days?"

A shrug was his only response and he sent another light punch to Leo's shoulder.

%%%%%

"Why do you insist that it should be my turn? You love going before us."

"Mmmm?" Mikey hummed distractedly before he turned to face them, "I wanna save the best for the last."

"And what makes you think that you're gifts are gonna end up being the best?"

"I got those ninja vibes, bro."

"Ugghh, fine." Raph pushed his face away and handed him a large, oddly shaped object, "There, happy?"

Mikey opened the wrap to reveal a fluffy cat plushie.

"Awww. Thankyou, Waphie."

Raphael was giving his other two brothers their gifts when he heard that.

"Don't call me that!"

Ignoring the quarrel, Donnie opened his box and grinned as he saw a set of assorted screw-divers he'd been needing for months.

"Hey, these could really help me with some of the projects."

"Raph, is this a meditation mat?" He let go of Mikey and looked down at the navy colored rug his brother was fingering.

"Yeah. Ya didn't have one in your room so I thought it will do."

Raph's tone might have been nonchalant but his brothers saw right through the facade. This mat was handwoven, and it had the hothead's signature style all over it.

Leo looked at Mikey's plush cat and at Donnie's screw-divers set before gazing down at the soft mat he was holding and he grinned at the red-clad turtle.

"You're a huge softie."

"Shut up."

"Hey, it's true y'know."

Raph let out an exasperated sigh, "Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

%%%%%

"Gotta hand it to you, Mikey. You really did save the best for the last."

Leo smiled as he watched his other two brothers testing their gifts, a telescope which Donnie wished for when he was six and never found the same one again and a portfolio book for Raph, containing every single one of the drawings he had ever made since he discovered his artistic talent. How Mikey found those lost and scattered pages was a mystery but he somehow did.

"You haven't opened yours yet." He pointed out to his eldest brother, waiting expectantly as Leo complied and unwrapped his present.

Everyone watched with baited breath as Leonardo opened the box and took out the object inside it, their faces falling in confusion and disappointment to see a childish toy gun with LED lights and sound effects.

A toy gun... for a very skilled warrior and leader of the Hamato Clan. It didn't make any sense to the others that Mikey would give his elder brother such a gift. It seemed-

"Oh My God! Captain Ryan's epic plasma blaster from Season 3! Mikey, I freakin' Love you!"

Leo had the biggest, dorkiest smile ever as he possed one way then another while shooting at imaginary foes, totally oblivious of the fact that everyone was there and watching him incredulously.

"This is the best thing ever!" He pressed the trigger once again, turning on the shooting and buzzing sound effects, "The sound is 100 percent accurate according to the episode and it even releases that purple beam!"

His actions brought amused smiles to the other three turtles' faces who shook their heads at his nonstop fanboying.

%%%%%

"As the brothers have decided, a single turtle is choosen as The King of Presents." Leonardo spoke in a formal tone, his face too serious to be serious, eyes betraying that he was enjoying this too much.

He could sense that almost all their friends were eavesdropping from outside the dojo doors but he didn't say a word.

Reaching out, Leo grabbed a golden, cardboard crown from a pillow Raphael was holding up and stared ahead.

"Hamato Michelangelo, step forth."

The youngest did as told and bowed his head for the crown to be placed on top, barely holding himself back from bouncing in excitement.

"You are this year's King of Presents." Next Leo grabbed a plastic, toy staff from the pillow Donnie was holding and presented it to the King who took it with a beaming smile.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

Then all three kneeled before the crowned turtle, much to everybody's amusement.

"All hail king Mikey!"

"What would be your first command, Your Majesty?" Raph asked, still on one knee.

"I hereby demand this party be turned into an epic pizza party." Mikey ordered, wearing his king costume and holding a scepter, looking too much like the Little Mikey they had protected from those neutrinos.

"Your Majesty, this already is a pizza party."

"Oh." He paused at Donnie's statement then shrugged, "Then I hereby demand that the pizzas be brought."

"As you wish, your highness." His subjects chorused before standing back up to follow his orders.

When boxes upon boxes of pizza arrived, he grabbed one from the top and snapped his fingers, "Raphael, feed me."

The second-eldest subtly let out an annoyed sigh as Leo and Donnie held back their snickers.

"As you command, your Majesty."

%%%%%

After the totally epic pizza party and dinner, all the guests had gone home.

The four turtles just finished cleaning up the place before they all collapsed in the pit. Or rather, Mikey played and goofed around while giving out orders as his subjects cleaned up the place and he collapsed with them in the pit.

"Mikey, You can remove your crown now."

Mikey had the most fun out of everyone, which made sense because he was a fun loving turtle and King for the day. He had ordered to play many ridiculous yet enjoyable games, like food race, which Leatherhead won to everyone's astonishment.

"But I like it..." A yawn escaped Mikey and Leo moved beside him, taking the cardboard crown off his head. He threw it in a box of decorations a few feet away and it landed with perfect accuarcy.

"There. You're already getting sleepy. You don't want it digging into your skin."

"Hey guys, you know what the best gift I've ever got is?" Mikey asked out of the blue, his eyes still closed and the others watched him curiously for a whole minute before Raph broke the silence.

"What?"

"Having you three as my big brothers."

A fond smile appeared on each of the turtle's face and they shared a silent nod before flanking him on every side, deciding that they'll sleep in a pile tonight.

"You guys are the best big brothers in the world. I couldn't ask for anything more."

"And your'e the sweetest, the most adorable baby brother ever." Leo said and reached over to rub Mikey's head, receiving a giggle from his freckled brother as Mikey leaned into the touch.

"Honestly, Mikey." Donnie also joined in, draping an arm over the youngest turtle from behind, "You're something special. We couldn't have asked for anything more either."

"Really?"

"Yeah... We love ya, lil' Mikey." Raph plopped down on the other side and pulled his brother in a side hug, bringing a beaming smile to the youngest's face.

Mikey sighed in content as he was surrounded by all his brothers and felt sleep taking over him.

"...Love you, bros." He managed to mumble out before he dozed off with soft snores, his big brothers there to hold him and watch over him as he fell into a world of fun-filled dreams.

The best of gifts for a young ninja turtle.

%%%%%

**A/n: I hope you enjoyed. The last scene and Mikey's coronation were supposed to be much longer than they are but very little time was left. I might fix these two later on.**

**And exams mean that I couldn't put my entire attention on the story right know. Don't worry though, they'll be over soon and then I'll be back to writing all the fluff and fun with a pinch of angst.**


	29. Disney Fever

**A/n: This idea has been written before but I wanted to write my own version of it (plus, inspiration!). Oh, and my exams are finally over.**

**Fair warning: This ended up being more drabblish then I intended.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles or the movies or any of the songs.**

%%%%%

**Disney Fever**

It started a couple of days after the movie night. Everything seemed casual till then and no one saw it coming. It struck the youngest of the bunch first, who also happened to be the most vulnerable to that predicament.

The initial symptoms were waved off by everyone as Mikey's usual childish personality but what came next would make them regret for not looking into the matter sooner.

It was morning and Mikey's family had gathered in the kitchen for breakfast when they all noticed that the family chef was humming something else and not his usual T-phone ringtone as he cooked. The humming soon devolved into singing.

"Polish and wax, do laundry, and mop and shine up

Sweep again and by then it's like 7:15~"

He sung while flipping the omelette, grabbing five plates from the cupboard with his other hand and the others only stared at him with confusion, recognizing the song from one of the movies they had watched the other night.The omelettes were launched in the air and fell on the respective plates with perfect accuracy.

"And so I'll read a book!

Or maybe two or three"

He grabbed three of the five plates as he said this and frisbeed them in front of his brothers. Next he picked up a large plate with a bunch of toasts on top and bottles of ketchup and mustard, taking them to the table and placing them down.

"I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery!

I'll play guitar and knit~

And cook and basically

Just wonder when will my life begin?"

The last two plates of omelette found their way to the table, one placed infront of Mikey's seat and the other infront of Splinter.

Bowing a little, Mikey placed a coriander leaf on top of his father's plate and straightened with a smile.

"Bone Appetit!"

He exclaimed and took his place at the table, immediately digging in and his brothers shook their heads at him with fond exasperation before starting to eat their own meals.

%%%%%

Mikey kept singing one song or another the whole day, to a point where it started to become a little annoying but he paid no heed to his family's occasional complaints.

"Where the heck is that soda?"

Raph mumbled while moving aside a ketchup bottle as he rummaged through the fridge, the can of soda he had been looking for nowhere to be seen.

He ignored Mikey as the other turtle skipped into the kitchen, humming another one of those addictive songs and continued to search. When he didn't find it, Raph stood up from his crouch, slamming the refrigerator door shut in the process, and stomped away with angry grumbles.

Unfazed by his actions, Mikey simply opened the door once again and quickly found the required can before throwing it at his retreating brother.

"Heads up, Raph!"

Years of ninja training and honed reflexes had him twisting around and shooting his hand forward to catch the thrown object. Confused, he looked down and blinked at the can of soda, a grin appearing on his face.

"Thanks."

That's when Mikey took it as a cue to start singing out loud and he began to dance around his elder brother while doing so.

"Hey, it's okay! It's okay! You're Welcome~"

The grin that had appeared on Raphael's face dropped into an annoyed scowl which was soon followed by the sound of a loud smack and a yelp.

%%%%%

"Donnie, I told you not to go to the junkyard while it's still daytime. You could have been seen and you should know that this wasn't safe."

The eldest lectured his genius brother for the foolish act but Donnie wasn't listening.

"I was careful! And this contraption is extremely rare, Leo, I had been searching for it for months and I couldn't pass the opportunity."

"You could have gone at night!" Leo tried to reason with the stubborn turtle, "While it's dark and people aren't working there and there is less danger of getting spotted."

Raph and Mikey watched silently from the sidelines, having learned long ago that it's never a good idea to interrupt when Leonardo is in lecture mode, lest they become the target as well.

"They were crushing the metallic trash _today_, at _evening_. There was no time left for waiting till nightfall or it would have been gone for good."

Leonardo let out a sigh as he saw a hint of excitement in his brother's eyes. Donnie really had been going to the junkyard every night to look for a certain contraption. He was smart and understood the risks of reckless behaviours well enough that Leo was certain that his younger brother must have been careful.

It would be pointless to lecture him and snuff out that spark of excitement he had gained after finally finding what he's been searching for for months.

"Alright, Donnie. Just don't do that again and tell us before going out instead of disappearing without a trace."

Donnie became a little sheepish when he pictured how Leo and the others might have been panicking when he left without a word.

"Sorry for worrying you."

"Its alright, Donnie." The blue-masked turtle gave him a small smile, indicating that he wasn't mad anymore and all was forgiven.

"For the first time in forever~

Donnie said something wroooong!"

Aaaand Mikey decided to completely ruin the moment, earning an incredulous glare from his red-masked brother which went unnoticed.

"For the first time in forever~

Leo's lecture isn't loooong~"

"Mikey..." His brothers warned with narrowed eyes, hoping he would get the hint and leave.

He didn't.

Instead, the orange-clad turtle giggled and switched the song to a different one as he draped an arm over Donnie's shoulders.

"Do you wanna build a gadget?

Something cool with big buttons!"

He draped his other arm over Leo's shoulder and pulled both brothers close, much to their agitation, before turning to Leo.

"Or you could play other games,

And make up silly names

While I throw water balloons atRaphplaying drums~"

"Go away, Mikey." Donnie and Leo chorused with flat expressions.

And Raphael just laughed at the irony that this moment was way too similar to what they had seen in the movie. Michelangelo quickly joined him in laughing, relieved that he said his brother's name in the last verse too quickly for the hothead to catch.

%%%%%

The ailment became contagious, effecting the second-eldest as well and he set out to find something that could help relieve the urge to sing, any excuse so Mikey wouldn't start teasing him.

He soon found a perfect opportunity...

The appliance twitched and sparked for a moment before it blew up, dark smoke with smell of burnt carbon wafting from it and hitting a certain blue-masked turtle.

Leonardo coughed and stepped back, waving a hand infront of his face before he glared at the busted toaster.

"Really?! I didn't even touch you!"

He pointed an accusatory finger at the inanimate object which didn't give any indication of listening to him.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by an occupied Leo, his immediately younger brother had trudged in and paused to watch the whole scene with utter amusement.

"Why do you always do this to me and not anyone else? It's not like I murdered your ancestors."

Leo mumbled in his typical self-loathing manner, once again reflecting if there was something genuinely wrong with him that the object hated him so much.

Raph couldn't hold himself back anymore when he saw his elder brother's worried face. This was pure gold!

"Aww, don't worry too much, Leo." He approached the other turtle and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him away from the counter.

"Just let it goooo.

Let it gooo~

Turn away and slam the door~"

"Not you too." The eldest groaned in agitation and his brother snickered at the look on his blackened face.

"Let it gooo~"

"Raph!"

%%%%%

She should have been surprised at this. Everyone else in the lair had been at one point and she should have been too but... a part of her completely expected this, considering how she had observed the reactions of numerous other people.

Mikey sauntered beside her with a plate full of sandwiches balanced atop his palm and he placed it in front of her as he continued his singing. The others present at the table ignored him, indicating that they had gotten used to his antics.

"Be our guest

Be our guest

Put our service to the test

Tie your napkin 'round your neck, chérie

And we provide the rest!"

A box of tissues appeared on the table, then a jug of water, a bucket of icecream– spoons and forks– sauces– snacks– fruits– drinks– more dishes. It just kept coming and coming, one thing after another, and she wondered just how much he could have sung during mealtimes in four days that his whole family was used to it.

"Soup du jour

Hot hors d'oeuvres

Why we only live to serve

Try the red stuff, it's so yummy

Don't believe me? Ask the tummy."

He sang as he dipped his finger in the pizza sauce on his plate and licked it.

Nobody noticed that a certain purple-masked turtle had disappeared as soon as Mikey had started singing that particular song in April's presence. Neither did they notice that the slice of pizza that was on Donnie's abandoned plate was sneakily picked up by the youngest and eaten.

Way to use the genius's favourite fairytale against him.

%%%%%

Leonardo was well known for his endurance and resistance. He was the one turtle who had resisted Karai's venom long enough to fight back and perform the healing hands. He had resisted the pull of unconsciousness several times before to continue fighting. Had resisted against the hallucinogenic effects of mutant mushrooms which showed him his greatest fear. He had even endured the pulsing agony felt throughout his body to rescue his family, only a day after he had woken up from a three month long coma.

Leonardo was a very resistant turtle. But even _he_ failed to resist this thing for too long.

Afterall, one can't really resist when a song from their favourite movie is involved.

He observed the scene taking place, heard Mikey and Raph's whispered plan, and relented when they asked him to join them, the childish part of him really wanting to have some fun after seeing how the other two were enjoying themselves.

April had come over again. She had a calculus test due in the morning and Donatello had offered to help her prepare for it.

They were sitting together in the pit, a textbook and some open notebooks scattered around the place. Donnie was in the middle of explaining the method for finding the integral of an equation while scribbling something over the page in front of him and April leaned closer to understand better.

Both teenagers were oblivious to the three ninjas sneaking up behind them.

"Wow. I never knew it was this simple." She gave him grateful smile once he was finished, "You're a really good teacher, Donnie."

"Uh. Th-thanks, April. You're really good too. A-a learner, I mean! Not that you wouldn't be a good teacher, you will be a good teacher if you ever want to. Just... y-you're a good learner too." He stuttered nervously while wearing a dorky smile as he looked at the redheaded girl.

April smiled back and suddenly there were three turtles singing behind them.

"Caaaaan you feel the looove tonight~"

"Guys!"

The three brothers laughed and ran away, leaving behind a flustered and blushing Donatello.

%%%%%

Soon enough, all four turtles had become the victims. Donnie humming a tone while typing away at his laptop gave away that he too, was infected with this. How could he not? When all three of his brothers continued to tease him or each other using lyrics; For everything and almost all the time, even on patrols and during missions if circumstances weren't serious.

"GUYS!"

Mikey rushed into the living area where his three brothers were present, one punching a punching dummy, one working on his laptop and one watching his favourite show. They glanced at him questioningly as he approached, wearing an excited smile. "So I was in my room but it got boring and I thought, 'Why not read a comic?' But I have already read all of my comics and it didn't seem entertaining so I thought about something that would actually help me get rid of this boredom and some of those ideas were-"

"Just get to the point!" Raph cut in with annoyance.

"I figured we should do a group karaoke!"

The elder three shared a look before turning to look at him.

"A group karaoke?" Donnie asked with an eyeridge raised.

"Yeah." Mikey went on, "I mean, Leo could use some fun and you want to sing outloud but you never get a chance and Raph already wants to."

"Sounds fun. Let's do it." Leo agreed and turned off the episode which he had watched nearly a hundred times before.

Donnie was sceptical at first but after a moment's thought he realized that Mikey was right. He shut down his laptop and placed it to the side, standing up from the couch to join his brothers, "Count me in, too."

"Awesome!"

"So which song should we do?"

"Oh, I know!" Donnie exclaimed excitedly and his brothers turned to him, "You guys are really gonna enjoy this."

A minute later, the four turtles were dancing around and singing the song Donnie had chosen with much gusto as music played in the background, coming from Mikey's T-phone.

"Hakuna Matata!

What a wonderful phraaaase"

Donnie started and Raph sided next to him,

"Hakuna Matata!

Ain't no passin' craaaaze!"

"It means no worries!" Mikey cut in with a grin as he hopped from one place to another before jumping between his brothers,

"For the rest of your daaaays"

Then Leo joined in, "It's our problem-freeeeee"

They draped their arms over each other's shoulders and chorused,

"Philosophyyyyyy!

Hakuna Matata!"

All four brothers were beaming with huge grins by the end of their funny little performance.

They shared a look with each other and began laughing hysterically at their own silly antics, the sounds carrying through the whole lair. They decided at that moment that group karaoke was much more fun and should be done more often.

And they made sure to follow through with that thought.

%%%%%

Soon enough, it had come to a point that instead of just teasing each other or singing together, they started doing so in presence of their father too, disregarding the fact that his meditation was constantly getting interrupted.

They never did listen when he told them to stop, being to busy humming the addictive tones. After many failed attempts, Splinter figured out a solution for that; He would fight fire with fire.

That evening, he waited for them to arrive in the dojo for their training session, his face void of any emotions. The boys soon trudged in and stood in front of their sensei, waiting for his instructions.

"Let's get down to business!"

Their heads snapped up at hearing the verse, eyes widening in astonishment. A part of them was excited but a much bigger part was dreading what was to come.

"To defeat the Huns."

A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Raphael's arm, drawing a yelp. Before anyone could register the next move, the hothead had been launched into the air and Leonardo was kicked with enough force that he slammed into a wall, the breath knocked out of him.

"Did they send me daughters,"

Splinter was suddenly behind the younger two and Mikey's eyes widened when his shoulder was grabbed, shrieking as he was picked up and twisted like a spinner before getting thrown to the ground.

Donnie was smart enough to draw his bo staff to better defend himself but only managed to block a counterfeit attack before he too, was pinned to the floor with his arm twisted painfully behind his shell and his bo staff being held by Splinter.

"When I asked for sons?"

By now, Leo and Raph had recovered themselves enough to unsheathe their weapons and charge at their sensei. They didn't even get a few feet near him when he suddenly tripped Raphael and slammed the end of wooden staff on top of Leonardo's foot, kicking their weapons out of reach in the process.

The eldest began to hop on one foot while holding the other in pain, "Ow ow ow."

Raph got up and charged like a bull but Splinter merely stepped out of the way and his hotheaded son slammed into the younger two who were just starting to get up. All three boys fell in a tangled heap as a result.

"You're the saddest bunch, I ever met

But you can bet before we're through"

One by one, all four brothers were grabbed by their mask tails before getting thrown into the far wall, from where they slid down to the ground.

"Mister, I'll make a man out of you~"

The turtles slowly sat up with loud groans and hesitantly looked up, expecting another beat down. When it didn't come and their sensei calmly dismissed them, they scurried out of the dojo as fast as their sore bodies could carry them, eyes wide in terror.

Suffice to say, they never dared to even hum the tone of any Disney song in his presense after that dreadful training session.

%%%%%

The play button on the music player which he had borrowed from Raphael's bedroom was pressed and the sound of music filled the air, breaking the silence which had fallen over the lair after his boys had left for their evening patrol.

_'Maybe Disney songs aren't so bad afterall.'_

Splinter mused with a nostalgic smile as he listened to the lyrics of _"You'll be in my heart"_, the memories of his wife and his children playing in his mind.

%%%%%

**A/n: My little brother sings, "You're Welcome~" whenever I thank him for something. This started happening after we watched Moana and is the inspiration for this oneshot.**

**P.S. I pretend to be annoyed at him but secretly enjoy it when he does that.**

**P.P.S. Watch the video, "TMNT 2012~You'll be in my heart" by Sandra Magamind on youtube. You guys are gonna love it! Like, really really love it.**


	30. Just Desserts

**A/n: Why you not reviewing, people? This sad writer is losing motivation.**

**By the way, I'm thoroughly confused about which multichapter fic I should start writing so I'm leaving the choice to you. Choose any number from 1 to 5.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

%%%%%

**Just Desserts**

"I wouldn't eat those if I were you."

Leo supplied from the couch where he was reading a sci-fi novel, his gaze never leaving the pages of the book.

"Why?" Raph asked nonchalantly as he plopped down beside him, taking a bite from one of the two pizza slices he had found in the fridge. They were Mikey's, but he didn't really care.

The blue-masked turtle remained silent, seemingly engrossed in the story. He waited till his brother had devoured one slice and started eating the other before answering his question.

"Cuz Mikey licked them before placing them in the fridge."

The bite was immediately spat out.

"WHAT?!"


	31. Memories

**Memories**

_When you find out your sibling ate your donuts without permission_

The meme appeared with a photo of an angry bull and Donnie snorted at how relatable it was... if you were Raphael, that is.

He wondered why he even started watching videos about random stuff in the first place. Maybe it was his exhausted mind wanting a break after being used too much for inventing and experimenting, or maybe he just got bored. Or maybe both.

Another meme appeared on the screen.

_Best childhood memory: Waking up in your bed no matter where you had fallen asleep._

Donnie read the words before focusing on the picture; a toddler cuddling with her teddy as she slept in her bed, her mother tucking her in. Something clenched deep inside him as he saw that meme. He could never relate to it. He didn't have a mother who would tuck him in if he fell asleep somewhere other than his bed.

He wasn't the one to dwell too much on these kind of things but seeing that photo– reading those words... it gave him a sad longing for all the things he must have missed which come with a mom.

Sure he had a father, and Splinter was no doubt the best father in the world for them and he was very grateful to have him, but still. There are just some things that only a mother does, not father. And he felt his emotions stir for not having all those sweet memories a mother provides, like getting tucked in bed after sleeping somewhere else.

His mind suddenly recalled an image from the earliest years of childhood, from those memories which get tucked into one's subconscious as they grow up. His eyes widened and lit up for a moment before dulling in regret for assuming such a thing about his only parent in the first place.

His father actually _had_ tucked him in after he fell asleep in random places, he just never realized it before.

But then Donnie recalled that it had also happened when his father wasn't at home; atleast a handful of times from what he could remember. Waking up in bed while he had been certain that he never went to bed in the first place. At that time he had just shrugged it off but now that he thought about it, it meant that someone else must have carried him to bed. Someone other than his father.

Digging deeper into the matter, he came to a conclusion as to who could have done that and sudden flashbacks hit him, of a half-asleep mind and the hard yet smooth surface of a plastron.

Closing his eyes, he latched onto those memories before they could drift away and focused on them. They soon started to become clear.

...

_Strong arms slid under his knees and shell as someone picked him up with a grunt. Donnie didn't register it, his young, three year old mind too exhausted to care about anything besides the feeling of safety that suddenly consumed him._

_"Jeez, Don-Don." Someone spoke to him in a gruff yet gentle voice as his cheek pressed against the cool surface of a plastron, "When did you get so heavy?"_

_The sound of footstep was coming from below him as his brother carried his half-asleep form to his bedroom and he snuggled closer to the other's plastron, drifting off for a moment._

_There was the creek of a door being pushed open and the next thing he felt was gently getting lowered to a bed and a blanket being draped over him._

_"Night, Don-Don..."_

_His brother whispered and that was the last thing he heard before sleep completely overcame him._

...

Donnie snapped his eyes open with a gasp, flabbergasted even though his hypothesis proved to be correct.

He knew that voice all too well. He practically grew up with it, but never in his life had he considered how gentle and caring his elder brother could act at times.

Tough and strong, yet a huge softy on the inside.

The sensation of another flashback was nagging him and not wanting to lose it before he could even see what it held, he put his thoughts aside and latched onto the next fleeting memory, this one from when he was a little more than four years old.

...

_He had fallen asleep after a long and exhausting day of disassembling and reassembing various non-working appliances._

_A screwdriver was held tightly in his small hand as he leaned against the wall, eyes closed and the object held close to his chest._

_There was suddenly a presence next to him as a shadow of another turtle fell over his slumped form and he heard a fond chuckle before his brother kneeled beside him, taking hold of his hand which held the screwdriver. He felt his brother try to take the object away from him and held on to it tighter._

_"C'mon, Donnie." He heard the other whisper, "Let go." His small fingers were gently pried open before the pointed tool was taken out of his hand. Then there were hands under his underarms, picking him up and holding him against a plastron._

_Donnie moaned as he was picked up and instinctively clung to the person holding him, afraid that he might fall._

_"Shhh. I got you."_

_He heard Leo's voice as the eldest patted his shell while holding him in his arms and Donnie buried his face into his brothers neck, head resting on his shoulder._

_He felt the other turtle pause for a while to stroke his head and shell, which calmed him down even more and he relaxed in his sleep, going limp. Then his big brother proceeded to carry him to his room._

_As he was being lowered to the bed, he subconciously tightened his hold on the eldest with a whimper._

_"It's okay, Dee." Leo comforted with a stroke to his head, "I'm right here."_

_He was laid down more gently as he heard this and then he felt a blanket covering him, enveloping him in a comforting warmth._

_His brother sat next to him and stayed beside him until he felt himself drift away into deeper sleep._

...

This one didn't really surprise him as much.

_'Because Leo had always been a motherhen.'_ He thought.

But it did make Donatello feel all warm and fluffy and happy on the inside, like the previous one had.

Maybe he didn't have a mom. But it didn't mean that nobody cared for him like a mother because someone did; a couple of someones, in fact.

Donnie internally smiled at the realization, recalling more such moments; getting scolded or lectured by one of them– being cared for when he is sick– being protected– being forced out of his lab to eat something– getting comforted after a nightmare– being encouraged when feeling down– being tought to do a kata correctly because he couldn't get it right– getting his tears wiped away after scraping his knee– being supported when upset...

He chuckled. "You guys are sooo receiving some hilarious, embarrassing cards on Mother's Day."

A yawn escaped him as soon as he said this and he blinked a couple of times, just then noticing how tired he actually was. Donnie crossed his arms over the desk infront of him and rested his head on them.

'Ten minutes', he decided as his eyes drifted shut of their own accord. He would rest for just ten minutes and then get back to that experiment he'd been working on. The purple-masked turtle thought to himself just before falling into a dreamless slumber.

%%%%%

When Donatello woke up again, those ten minutes had long been over.

He blinked his eyes open and found that his head wasn't resting on his arms or the desk, but instead on a soft pillow. He wasn't in the lab anymore, sitting on the office chair; He was in his room, laying on his comfy bed with a blanket covering him.

A soft smile appeared on his face as he recalled that Mikey and Splinter had gone to collect supplies from April. Only two other persons were in the lair besides him.

"Softy motherhens..."

Donnie mumbled sleepily and pulled the blanket under his chin, eyes closing shut as he dozed off once again.


	32. Snow Day

**A/n: OMG! I watched the first episode of season 2 and I enjoyed it a lot! Now, I'm not too fond of the RotTMNT series and there are some things I even hate about it, not gonna lie, but there are a few episodes I honestly like. And I gotta tell you, I loved the latest episode. 2018Leo may not be the leader but boy is he awesome at times, even cooler than 2018Mikey. He legit took charge in the latest episode and his entire plan worked! It was a pretty good strategy if you ask me. To be honest, Leo is the only one of them who had made the best plans and strategies in the Rise series, even if he does it rarely. I just hope his family starts to believe in him more. Not saying that I like the series but it's not that bad; give it a chance. The 2012 will always remain my favourite, though.**

**That thought aside, lets get back to the story. This oneshot is based on real life events that happened with me once. AU where the turtles live on the surface with a human Yoshi who never mutated into a rat. The tots are nearly 4 years old. Enjoy!**

**Requested by: 'FlameShadowFireDragon'**

%%%%%

**Snow Day**

Hamato Yoshi gazed at the white yard from his place over the porch, smiling as he watched three of his sons playing in the snow; covered in warm clothing depicting their signature colours of red, purple and orange. Though they were doing their own things and weren't playing together, since the group games made them miss the presence of their big brother.

The blue-masked ninja had been ill for the past few days and was well on his way to healing. He had begged his dad to let him come outside, gazing at him with those bright, teary, ocean-blue eyes and promising to be careful. Unable to resist the pitiful, puppy-eyes, Yoshi had relented, on the condition that Leonardo goes out while wearing his warmest winter clothes. He hadn't missed how Leonardo whispered, "Thankyou, Mikey." just after shouting "Yes!". But the sheer excitement and joy he had observed in the child's eyes as soon as he had given permission was well worth seeing.

The younger three didn't know Leo was allowed to come outside and thus they continued their individual activities, enjoying the snowday nonetheless.

Donnie was slowly walking around, his reddish brown eyes fixed on the sky as he observed the shapes of snowflakes with curiosity, noting the differences in their patterns, while Mikey was making a snow angel in the middle of the yard, giggling merrily the whole time.

Raphael sat on the ground off to the side, his small, mitten covered hands sweeping across the soft, white snow to gather it in a pile. Personally, he loved snowball fights but it wasn't as much fun without his partner in crime. The two of them going against Mikey and Donnie, both teams making balls and formulating strategies and hitting bullseye and running around the whole place and laughing their shells off the whole time; That was fun. Gloating about it whenever they won was always a bonus too.

When Raph had gathered enough of the snow, he began to shape it, giving it the form of a snow-turtle.

The tot smiled, his green eyes lighting up with joy. He liked building snowturtles too. Snowturtles were cool!

"Snow day!" The voice of his immediately elder brother squealed from the right and he snapped his head towards it, worry quickly invading his young features and replacing the small smile that had appeared there.

Leo had been sick with fever! He was supposed to stay in bed! Raph thought in panic and stood up, immediately rushing next to the blue-clad turtle who was smiling up in wonder at the fluttering snowflakes. He grabbed his brother's mitten covered hand when he reached him, drawing his attention towards him.

"Leo, why are you out?! You were sick."

"There is no need to worry, my son." Hamato Yoshi spoke warmly to his second-eldest, kneeling to adjust the hothead's scarf. "Leonardo is much better now and is healing well. I allowed him to come out as long as he doesn't do something silly to catch a cold again."

"B-but..." Raph stammered, trying to come up with something that would convince his father that it wasn't safe for Leo to be outside in the cold weather but he failed to think of one.

Sensing his unease and concern, Leo squeezed his brother's hand he was holding and Raph looked up at him, green eyes clearly revealing the worry he felt for his previously sick brother.

"I'll be fine, Raphie." He said comfortingly and Raph relaxed a little, giving a hesitant nod. "Don't worry, okay?"

" 'kay, bro." He whispered and reluctantly walked back to his half-built snowturtle, turning to gaze at his brother every once in a while. Once he reached it, he saw a barely recognizable roundish pile of snow. The young turtle sighed in annoyance and plopped down next to it, beginning to properly shape it once again. Why did Mikey have to throw a snowball and ruin his beautiful masterpiece?

Mikey snickered mischievously at seeing Raph's sour expressions and stealthily brought out another snowball, searching for the next target. He saw Donnie studying a large snowflake he had caught on his glove and aimed at his oblivious brother's shoulder, hitting a bullseye. Donnie yelped as he stumbled back, falling on his bottom with a wide-eyed expression which quickly turned into one of annoyance.

"Mikey!" He jumped up and started chasing the younger turtle, who kept giggling as he ran away, getting far out of Donatello's reach before he could even come close to him.

After running around the whole yard for minutes without any success of catching his little brother, Donnie stopped to catch his breath, leaning over a little while holding his knees.

_Why did he have to be so fast?!_

"Tired already, Donnie?" Mikey taunted from a few yards away, "I was just warming up."

Donnie narrowed his eyes and picked up some snow, quickly forming a snowball to stike his brother. He threw it at Mikey with perfect accuracy but just when it was about to hit, the youngest dodged at the last second.

"Haha! You missed!"

Donatello huffed and crossed his arms, before he shook his head and walked away from the little prankster, ignoring him as he sat on the stairs of the porch to discuss what he had observed with his father. About how the intricate pattern of each flake was different but all had a six pointed shape.

Mikey wilted that the genius wasn't chasing him anymore and looked around for another target to tease. His eyes roamed across their yard before they fell on his eldest brother.

Leo had his back turned to him and was standing next to Raph, conversing lightly with the hothead as he watched him shape the left arm of his nearly finished artwork.

Forgetting that his big brother had been sick for the past few days, Mikey grinned mischievously, sneakily forming another round ball in his hands before he threw the snowball at the blue-clad turtle.

It went sailing towards the two turtles and forcefully hit Leonardo in the back of his head.

Leo gasped, the shock of something cold hitting him and the momentum of the strike making him stumble forward and fall on his knees, his eyes wide and body frozen in shock.

The little prankster couldn't help himself as he saw this reaction and bursted out laughing, not noticing how Raphael had shot up from his position and twisted around with a glare, his face red with a monstrous rage which enemies would fear in days to come.

No one messed with his big brother!

He hefted up the nearly finished snowturtle over his head and, letting out a loud and angry roar, hurled it at his orange-clad brother with so much force that it flew towards the youngest like a cannonball.

"Hahaha... ha... ha..."

Mikey's laughter died out, all the colour draining from his face as he saw the two feet tall snowturle hurtling through the air and straight at him. His eyes widened in a moment of horrific realization and before he could even think about dodging, the object hit him full force in the plastron and he fell back on his shell from the impact, staring up at the cloudy sky as Raph's artwork broke apart in a huge pile of snow over him, pinning him down and burying his lower body effectively.

On the other side of their yard, a proud little Raphael dusted his hands off with a firm, satisfactory nod before turning his back to their half burried sibling, ignoring the alarmed expression on his eldest brother's face and merrily sitting back down to build another snowturtle.

That should teach Mikey not to hit his big brother with snowballs when he is sick.

After a whole minute of staring at the youngest in shock, Leo finally shook himself out of his stupor and rushed next to the pile with concern.

"Mikey!"


	33. Things that go bump in the night

**A/n: I love how even after being through so much, the turtles somehow ended up arguing about which comic is better. Ah,The beauty of 2012 series.**

**Also, Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates and thankyou so much for all the wonderful reviews! They are what kept me going and motivated me to write more. A special shoutout to _fireworksinthenight_ for her support and encouragement ever since I started writing and my greatest thanks to _FlameShadowFireDragon_ for being a wonderful friend. And to the readers and reviewers who have taken time to enjoy this book, you guys are all awesome!**

**I have come to notice that turtle tots are way too adorable to resist, so here's another tot story. Enjoy!**

**Turtles are 4 years old in this one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

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**Things that go bump in the night**

Young Donatello was sitting cross-legged on his bed, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders to keep away the cold as his eyes skimmed over the pages of a chemistry book placed infront of him.

His bedside lamp was turned on and the soft, yellow light emitted by it was enough to illuminate the off white pages showing tiny, printed text and diagrams of titration apparatus. He'd been absorbed in it ever since he had heard his father and elder brothers leave the lair to collect more algae and worms.

He was reading about the approriate types of indicators used in certain analyses when the sound of loud, terrified screams startled him. He looked up in alarm, only to see his door swing open and a green and orange blur rush inside his room. Before Donnie could comprehend what was happening, he had his lap full of a whimpering and crying tot who clinged to his plastron, tears running down his freckled cheeks.

He stared down with wide and concerned eyes, not knowing why his baby brother was so distraught but didn't dare to ask. Mikey was in no condition of answering him yet. He let it drop for the moment and wrapped his arms around the weeping turtle instead, hoping to give him some comfort.

"It's okay, Mikey. Shhhhh... I got you little brother."

"D-D-Donnie?"

"Hmm?" Donnie responded while wrapping his blanket around Mikey as well, pulling him closer. Mikey complied without a question and leaned his head against his brother's plastron, hiccuping as he shuddered.

"I-I'm scared..." He whispered as tears still cascaded down his face and Donatello wiped them away.

"Why are you scared?"

"There is a g-ghost in the lair. I heard one w-when... going to the k-kitchen."

Donnie frowned; So that was what had Michelangelo so riled up? It didn't make any sense! But then again, Mikey usually went to Leo or Raph when he got scared and thus, Donnie didn't know what ridiculous or unreal things could freak him out.

He decided to be logical to put Mike's overactive imagination to rest.

"Mikey, ghosts don't exist. It was probably your brain playing tricks on you because of being alone."

"B-But... I heard it!"

"But they aren't real, Mikey." The young genius tried to reason with the scared turtle, not understanding why he was getting scared about something that doesn't even exist.

"Ghosts don't exist." He repeated his previous words, assuming that the younger would believe him but Michelangelo was having none of it.

"Tell that to them!"

Okay, this wasn't working. He needed to try something else to convince Mikey and calm him down. His reddish-brown eyes quickly scanned his room to find something that would give him any ideas. An old, scavanged flashlight caught his attention and he perked up, coming up with a pretty good plan to prove to his little brother that ghosts don't exist.

But one look at Mikey's stubborn yet scared face had him rethink his previous method of approach and he figured that it would be best to indulge him for now.

"Hey, how about we go hunting?" Donnie suggested but Mikey only gave him a confused look, not understanding what his brother had meant so he elaborated, "Ghost hunting, Mikey. Like Ghost Busters!"

That put an excited spark in the youngest's eyes and a grin broke out on his face.

"For real?!"

"Yup. C'mon!"

Donnie pushed the blanket away and hopped out of his bed with Mikey in tow. Both turtles ran towards a small metal cabinet and kneeling next to one of the drawers, they pulled it open and began to rummage through it, grabbing flashlights, tapes, helmets, straps, nerf-guns, etc.

In about ten minutes, two brave turtle tots were standing with determined postures, geared up with flashlights in their belts, nerf-guns strapped to their shells and helmets on their heads, their forearms covered in black, athletic tape.

"Lets move, team," Mikey spoke before he took his flashlight out with a twirl and switched it on, shining it at his face from below and whispering in a creepy voice, "For the Trek through the Haunted Lair."

Donnie good-naturedly rolled his eyes and grabbed Mikey's arm, pulling him along towards the door. "You've been hanging out with Leo too much. Haven't you?"

"Hey, it's fun. He let's me choose the game every time and the roles too."

Donnie looked at his brother knowingly, "The puppy eyes?"

"The puppy eyes."

%%%%%

_Ooh, boy, Why did I think this was a good idea?_

Donnie took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that he wasn't scared as him and Mikey stood outside the door of his room. With the exception of one light in the kitchen, the rest of the lair was dark. And he'd never been out in the dark lair before without having Leo or Raph beside him, big brothers always made him feel safer.

He reached out and took Mikey's hand in his, his wide eyes darting around to look at the darkness surrounding them. Mikey's flashlight was out and turned on, making more eery shadows around them as the youngest shone it upon the hallway, subconsciously moving closer to his smart brother at seeing the strange shapes.

"It's okay, Mikey," Donatello stated, his voice holding a slight tremble as he tentatively took a step forward, pulling Mikey along, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Mikey audibly gulped and trudged forward as well, slowly, cautiously and entirely on edge. He _knew_ he had heard a ghost and now that they both have left the safety of Donatello's bedroom, his fear was returning and taking away all the ghost hunting excitement. Maybe holding his nerf-gun might help with that?

Making up his mind, the orange-clad turtle looked up at his brother. "Donnie?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you be the flashlight guy?"

Not understanding what he meant, Donatello gazed at him with an eyeridge raised.

Seeing that his brother was clueless, Mikey elaborated, "I want to hold my gun but my hand isn't free."

"Oh." Realizing why Michelangelo had wanted him to do so, he took out his flashlight and switched it on, waiting for Mikey to place his own back in the belt and arm himself with his nerf gun.

"You good?" He asked once the freckled turtle had armed himself, a little bit of his excitement returning at the prospect of their upcoming adventure. Receiving a confident nod this time, Donnie continued forward, his companion falling in step next to him with gun aimed forward and ready to shoot at any creepy ghost that dares jumpscare them.

Feeling a bit more confident than before, both young turtles slowly made their way towards the kitchen, passing through the long, scary hallway and, after what felt like forever to the two, reaching the blanketed doorway across from which they could see the bright light, slivers of it escaping through the edges of the hung up blanket.

Michelangelo extended his toy gun with narrowed eyes and used it to carefully slide away the blanket, both boys roaming their eyes across their kitchen to confirm it was untouched. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, they stepped in, silent as ninjas, and looked around more easily now that they were in a lighted area. Having no immediate use of the flashlight he was holding, Donatello switched it off but didn't place it back, in case he had to use it to check the shadowed parts of the silent, empty kitchen.

"Huh," Donnie mused with a slight smile after he had inspected the place with his younger brother and nothing unusual turned up, "No ghosts."

"I heard one, brother mine. Those creepy monsters are here." Mikey stated firmly as he opened one of the drawers and glared into it before closing it and moving to the next one, doing the same. "Mark my words, ghosts," he whispered in a dramatically threatening voice as he stared down into the next drawer, "You cannot hide from Michelangelo forever. He shall find you."

"I told you. There is no such things as ghosts." The purple-clad genius sounded slightly agitated and tired as he said that, running a hand down his face. When he took it off, he let out a startled yelp at seeing Mikey's chubby face only inches away from his own.

"How do you know? Hmm?" Mikey pointed an accusatory finger at him, eyes narrowed, "Have _you_ ever met them?"

Donnie sighed and pushed the finger away, "No, but-"

"Then you don't know if they are real." Mikey cut him off and moved away, getting into a crouched stance with his nerf-gun aimed straight at the the cabinet close to the sink, before he looked over his shoulder at Donatello, his helmet, gun and all the black-coloured gear combined with baby blue eyes narrowed in focus making Mikey look like a cute little soldier spy on a very important mission.

"That's where the sound came from earlier." Mikey gestured at the cabinet on which he had aimed his gun and Donnie moved towards it with narrowed eyes, tentatively reaching forward to grab the handle. He moved a little to the side as he took hold of the handle and looked back at Mikey. "Ready?"

The youngest nodded, nerf-gun at the ready. Donnie took a deep breath to steal his nerves and switched on his flashlight, bringing it forwards to shine the inside of the currently unopened cabinet.

Both held their breaths as the elder of the two swang open the cabinet and shone his flashlight in it, the beam illuminating the inside to show a few, slightly wet, clattered pots.

The turtle tots relaxed visibly at seeing that and Donnie closed the cabinet door with a soft sigh, looking back at his baby brother with a flat expression, Mikey mirroring the same expression.

"Raph." They both stated simultaneously, recalling that their red-masked brother always put back the utensils without properly arranging them. That often resulted in them clattering around later on.

"It was his turn to wash the utensils today, wasn't it?" Donnie asked his brother to confirm and Michelangelo nodded, straightening up and strapping the gun back to his small shell.

"So that's what the weird noise I heard was. The pots and pans that Raphie washed." Mikey whispered to himself in realization as Donnie also stood up and approached him.

"See? I told you there were no ghosts." He placed a hand on his baby brother's shoulder and smiled at him comfortingly. "Nothing to be afra-"

A light thump followed by weird crunching noises suddenly sounded from outside, cutting Donnie off. Mikey, startled by the strange sounds, instantly grabbed his big brother's arm and clung to it, whimpering in fear as he looked at the kitchen's exit with wide eyes.

Donatello wasn't expecting something like this and, still being a four year old child who was at home without his daddy and big brothers, he also got scared, gulping in fright with his eyes wide in trepidation.

Looking down at his little brother clinging to his arm and depending on him to protect him though, made Donnie push back his fear. It was his responsibility to take care of Mikey and protect him.

Reaching up and releasing a trembling breath, the young, gap-toothed turtle adjusted his helmet. Prying his arm free from Michelangelo's tight hold, he once again switched on his flashlight and grabbed his baby brother's hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"C'mon, Mikey." He moved towards the entrance to the kitchen, pulling his hesitant brother along, "Let's see what made that sound."

%%%%%

After a few gentle tugs and a small, soothing peptalk, Donnie managed to convince his little brother to step out of the kitchen. His flashlight was grasped firmly in his hand and was lighting up the shadowy parts of the lair, which were even creepier in the dark than the hallway they had trudged past earlier.

The two cautiously made their way to the pit, where Donatello predicted the noise seem to have come from, and searched with their eyes, not even daring to step away from each other as they climbed down the steps, never releasing each other's hand in fear of getting seperated in the dark.

The beam momentarily passed across the switches which were used to turn on the lights of their home but both brothers ignored them, knowing that neither was tall enough to reach them yet.

Donatello sighed. Oh, how he wished he would just grow up quickly and get even taller.

"You okay, Donnie?" Mikey's questioning voice drifted from beside him and he nodded absent mindedly.

"Yeah. I was just thinking."

"About scary ghosts?" The freckled tot asked innocently, making his brother smile.

"About being tall."

"Like you?"

Donatello chuckled fondly at this, doing a quick swipe of the living area. He was just about to respond when another weird noise was suddenly heard, only a few feet away from them.

"AAAAAAAA!"

Both brothers let out loud sreams of terror and Donnie's flashlight dropped out of his startled fingers, clattering to the floor and rolling away. They paid it no mind as they turned around and fled towards Donnie's bedroom at breakneck speed, shoving the door open as soon as they reached it.

They rushed inside and jumped on the bed, scrambling under Donatello's blanket in a matter of seconds to hide from the spooky, creepy monsters. Now, both little tots were hiding together as they clung to each other tight, shivering in fright with small whimpers escaping them as they waited for their daddy and big brothers to come home and scare away the ghosts.

%%%%%

In the pit of the lair, the flashlight that had fallen out of the gap-toothed tot's hand rolled a little before it came to a stop and its yellow beam shone upon a small shell.

When hearing nothing but silence, Spike slowly pulled his head out and looked around cautiously before pulling the rest of his limbs out. He walked forward and took another bite from the lettuce which had fallen near the TV, wondering what sort of creepy, scary ghosts were making those high-pitched _'AAAAAAAA!'_ sounds and chanting in his head over and over again that he was tough like Raph and was not afraid.

A distant noise suddenly came from the rooms, which had the turtle flinching back into his shell, his lettuce forgotten.

_OH GODS, WHY WASN'T RAPHAEL BACK YET?!_


End file.
